November Witch
by samuraistar
Summary: Sometimes the Moon chooses Guardians; other times he chooses Companions. Rated T for attempted suicide. Additionally rated NSFTF, Not Suitable For Twilight Fans! ;)
1. Cold Snow, Warm Smile

(running, panting) Must…escape…clutches…of everyday life!

READERS! I HAVE RETURNED! Like Ed McCain, I've fought my way back from the dead just to be with y'all! I'm so sorry I've been away for so long! I've been job hunting and I've recently learned the manly art of knitting! (…) Seriously—back in the medieval days it was a man's thing to do because it was a type of weave, and weaving was man's work. But I've learned how to do it (one style, anyway) and now I am the proud owner/wearer of a genuine handmade GRYFFINDOR SCARF! Now I just have to wait for winter and speaking of winter…

I have returned to offer you my first RoTG story! Before you read it, I should warn you: Yes, this is another Jack Frost Girlfriend fic, 'cause let's face it, every fangirl wants him and I am no different. I've read a couple of the others and I thought I'd join in on the Fangirl Agony. I don't even know if this will be any different from the others, but it will be different in at least one way: It's mine.

This story will also usher a first for me as a fan fiction writer: I'm on Pinterest, so some of the stuff here is what I call "Pinspiration" (like I'm the first one to coin _that_ phrase). The biggest one, for any of you Pinners in the audience, is a Jack Frost fan pic I found that's probably on the board of every Guardian fan. It's Jack offering a snow bunny to a cute little girl that looks like Yuki Cross from "Vampire Knight" with a small caption that reads "Don't cry…you look much prettier when you smile." I'd always had a girlfriend in mind for him, but until I saw that picture, I had a rather tenuous image of what she'd look like, so I pretty much used it as a springboard (if the original artist is reading this, please don't be mad. It's a wonderful picture and it really inspired me!) and it became the work I am now offering you.

So without further ado (and tooting my own horn), I humbly present what I hope will be a new "series" of some sort (like when I went crazy with my Kingdom Hearts, next generation kick, LOL) and what I further hope y'all will love!

* * *

_"Don't cry…you're much prettier when you smile."_ – Jack Frost from that fan pic I mentioned (it's on Pinterest and Deviantart, but I don't remember the name of the artist. Look it up, ya lazy daisies! ;))

* * *

**Title: November Witch**

**Summary****:** Sometimes the moon chooses Guardians; other times he chooses Companions. This is a story about falling in love, finding your center, and forgiving yourself. JackxOC

**Prologue: Cold Snow, Warm Smile**  
_Duluth, Minnesota – 1965_

The cold gray waves of Lake Superior stirred themselves up into a strange dance as Jack Frost looked grimly over the city. It was late August and it was his instinct now and then to start up the white stuff early this far north.

He made quick work of it, though, without as much of his usual cheer. He would sweep down a street or a block then hide for a couple of minutes; there was someone here he knew, someone he wanted to avoid. Unfortunately, this touch-and-go method took him longer than any other city normally would and it was two hours before he was done. Of course, it didn't really matter how long he took; sooner or later that jerk from the other side of the Lakes would show up and start corrupting his handiwork, turning a fun-filled snow day for kids into a miserable, bone-chilling, sickness-inducing ordeal. Already he could see the day turning as gray and numb as the lake. He exhaled.

"Couldn't wait a little while?" he muttered darkly, "Jerk."

By now he was tightroping a cement guard rail on the lakeshore; not wanting to see the sadness that was soon to be inflicted on the children he turned to go and was pleasantly surprised to find a small crowd of kids headed his way and throwing snowballs.

"That's more like it!" His mischievous grin returned as he started towards them but slipped away when he noticed the little girl at the front was crying and trying to shield her head. All the other kids were chasing her and throwing their snowballs only at her!

"Stop it!" she was shouting, "Leave me alone!" That only made the laughter louder and the snowballs faster, sometimes bigger.

"Or what?" one of them jeered, "You're gonna use your nature spirit powers on us? You're gonna get Daddy to rain on us?"

_'What?!'_ Jack thought, perplexed as he watched them get closer.

"I _am_ a spirit!" she shouted defensively, "I just wanted to play!"

Was this kid for real? Jack could tell a spirit from a human, but she wasn't close enough to tell. He shook it off; right now she was just a little girl being chased by bullies. There were few things Jack didn't tolerate, but that was one of them.

"Hey, what's the matter with you guys?" he scolded as they ran right through him, "She's just a little kid!" He knew they wouldn't hear him, but he still wanted to say it. As the last kid passed him, he distinctly saw him start to pack gravel into a snowball!

"HEY!" he snapped and swept snow into his face, leaving him to flail around trying to wipe off.

It served him right, Jack thought as he ice-slid to the rescue; a fine line was being crossed in his otherwise non-rule book. He made snow and ice so that _everyone_ could have fun, but this was clearly not fun; it was torture.

As quick as he could, he leapt over the kids and landed right behind the small girl. To his surprise, she squeaked and ran faster, as if she had sensed his presence. He shook it off; it was probably just from one of the snowballs that hit her foot. He pointed his staff to the ground next to her.

"Hang on tight," he murmured and swept her off her feet on a racetrack of ice. The boys stopped, dropped their jaws and snowballs, and stood in an open-mouthed stupor.

"Do you guys _see_ that?" asked one of them.

"Maybe she really _is_ a spirit," said another one. The others just nodded silently. This was what Jack had hoped would happen; after safely sliding her into a harmless snowdrift, the sprightly youth twirled his staff with one hand and made a whole bunch of snowballs. He then slid it down to the butt and held it like a golf club.

"Watch this," he glanced cockily at the girl and yelled, "FORE!"

The only thing better than the looks on those boys' faces was watching their dumbfounded mouths get stuffed with the very snow they had used to torment someone much smaller than themselves. Jack chuckled and shouldered his staff with a hand in his pocket, then turned his head to the girl.

"Did you see that, princess?" he asked, then noticed she looked like she was looking right at him. He remembered her claims of being a spirit and now that she was standing still, he could see clearly she had told the truth. He'd seen spirit children before; they didn't quite possess the same sense of wonder that human children did, but they were still adorable.

The girl said nothing, just stood there sniffling pitifully and sobbing in a way that sounded like a hiccup with slush on her nice winter hat. She was so small and sad it tugged at his heart.

"You all right, kid?" he asked gently as he knelt to her.

"They threw snowballs at me," she pouted and wiped her eyes, "They wouldn't leave me alone!"

Jack laid his staff against his shoulder and, watching her face, scooped up a handful of snow.

"Hey," he said softly, "Look!" She opened her eyes to see a moving bunny in his hands made of snow! She blushed with wide eyes.

"How'd you do that?" she asked and rubbed an eye, "Who are you?"

"I'm Jack Frost," he introduced himself.

"You are?" she blinked in slight surprise. He nodded and saw she hadn't smiled this whole time. He bent lower to catch her eye and smiled at her.

"There it is," he teased when she giggled, "I knew there was a pretty smile under that hat!" She was all bundled up in a bright copper-colored winter coat with white faux fur trim, red cuffs, a red scarf, a red cap with the faux fur trim, and brown boots. Her brown hair peeked out from her hat. She held out her mittened hands and Jack placed the bunny inside them.

"Thank you," she said and smiled. He smiled back and tapped her nose, making her turn red.

"You've got honey eyes, you know that?" he said.

"Honey eyes?" she repeated with her head cocked to the side.

"They're light brown with a bit of golden light in them, like honey," he explained, adoring her more every minute, "They're pretty."

"Thanks!" she smiled brightly, "Your eyes are pretty, too!"

He laughed; no one had ever said that to him before. A gust of wind that didn't belong to him swept up the shore and chilled them both. Jack only knew one kind of wind that could make even him shiver.

"We should probably get out of here," he said.

"Actually, Jack," said another, much older male voice, "_you_ should probably get out of here."

Jack sprang to his feet and half-stepped in front of the child with his staff gripped in both hands. His grim look returned.

The man wore a dark gray trench coat, big black boots, and a black ski cap. He had a handsome yet gloomy face that magnified his purpose in the world.

"Say goodbye, dear," he said to the child, "Your mother will be here soon."

"Yes, Daddy," she said, much to Jack's surprise.

"This guy's your dad?" he raised a weird eyebrow.

"Mm-hmm," she nodded, "Thanks for helping me, Jack."

"Anytime," he smiled and knelt again, "This is for you."

He held his hand open to reveal one of his signature snowflakes; he exhaled a tiny puff of snow on it and it hardened and fell into his palm with a white-silver chain hanging between his fingers. He unlatched it and put it around her neck.

"That's just for you," he said secretly as she looked at it, "Don't forget me, all right?"

"Will I ever see you again?" she asked shyly. Jack glanced for a second at the child's chilly father; considering the man always ran him off the Lakes the minute he crossed over, Jack doubted he'd get to spend much time with the daughter, if any.

"I hope so," he said. The girl looked sadly at the ground, then glanced up at him. She tucked her new necklace underneath all her clothes and placed her hands over her heart, where the snowflake was. With a red-faced smile, she leaned over to touch her forehead to his.

"I'll never forget you, Jack," she said, "I promise."

His frozen heart swelled within him as he smiled adoringly at the little spirit girl. He cupped her cheek in one hand and planted a cool deep kiss on her warm forehead. His own wind started to pick up, so he tapped her nose again in his classic Jack Frost style.

"See you around, Honey Eyes," he winked as he let himself get whisked away. The child stared in wide-eyed wonder as her hero rode away on the wind like a prince.

"Jack Frost," she whispered to herself. Her father took her hand and led her away, but she kept looking back to where Jack Frost had rescued her.

* * *

**Author's Review****:**  
Something I forgot to mention on my list of inspirations for this story. One of the Guardian fics I read before starting on mine was "Avowal," written by (IMO) the very talented, very great **StarKatt427**, whose take on Jack's relationship with Jamie was emotionally raw and took my breath away. I actually felt kind of vulnerable after reading it…seriously. That's how good she is (at least, I think it's a she. I could be wrong.) I know I sound like I'm exaggerating, but that really is how I felt. Maybe that's just me being weird.

Anyway, you should totally read "Avowal," and anything else she's got (which is a lot). While I'm at it, I'd like to dedicate this story to her; her dramatic and emotional depth made me reach inside myself and find this story, so if you love reading this story half as much as I love writing it ('cause I'm still handwriting it in my notebook), most of the inspirational credit goes to her. The rest goes to Pinterest! ;D

Hope you enjoy this! Y'all know what to do! See you next chapter!


	2. Housecleaning

Before I get into the official first chapter, I have a question: Where IS Burgess?

I'll change it when someone answers, but until then, we'll just get into it.

Also, there was something I forgot to mention: I made the little girl into a nature spirit because I didn't want to invalidate Jamie's importance in Jack's life. I wrote the "first draft," if you will, while I was stranded in Dallas, waiting for my flight that ended up getting canceled (if you want to know the story, you'll have to review) and once I got a hold of my actual notebook, I changed it after realizing what a mistake it would be to have her be human. Considering what I've done in this story so far, I think it's the smartest move I've made for it. You'll see what I mean…I hope.

* * *

_"Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect."_ – Ralph Waldo Emerson (I found that quote in "Flesh & Bone," the third Rot and Ruin book by Jonathan Maberry. I'm not usually into the zombie craze, but it was highly recommended to me and I like it!)

* * *

**Chapter 1: Housecleaning**

_Burgess, 2013_

"YEE-HA!" Jack screamed as the wind rocketed him towards the Bennett house. He swung his staff carelessly in the air to refresh the leftover Thanksgiving snow. He touched down and broke into a low sprint fueled by excitement while listing off all the things they were going to do together: Snow forts, ice skating, sledding, maybe some snow angels, and of course, an all-out snowball war!

Finally he spotted his favorite kid coming out of the garage, pulling something heavy. Jack's eyes lit up.

"HEY JAMIE!" he called. Jamie looked to his right and let go of the big garbage bag.

"Jack? Oof!" He bowled him over and they rolled right into a tree that dumped the snow from its branches and buried them. They scrambled up and broke into laughter. Jamie dropped himself across Jack's lap.

"Jack!" he chimed as he rolled over. Jack lifted him on his knees to hug him.

"I'm back, kid," he said happily, "Did you miss me?"

"Of course!" Jamie piped, "I missed you like crazy!"

"Jack! Jack!" Sophie giggled as she toddled over with her arms out.

"Hey! Soap Box!" Jack greeted as he tossed her up and caught her, "I brought you something from the Easter Bunny!" He reached in his pocket and pulled out a pink and blue painted egg.

"Bunny! Bunny!" she bounced in his arms and cradled her new egg, "Pretty!" Jack chuckled and kissed the side of her head before setting her back down. He took Jamie by the hand and shouldered his staff.

"I hope you're bundled up real good this year, Jamie," he said, "We've got a lot of lost time to make up for."

"Uh, Jack," said Jamie, "About that…"

"I've finished up most of the world for the season," he said, "so I'll have a lot more free time—which, of course, means fun time."

"Jack, I can't play today," the boy blurted out.

"So I was thinking we could"— Jack stopped. "Wait, what?"

"I can't play today," he repeated, "We're cleaning up the guest room."

"Oh, yeah?" said Jack as they went back to the garage, "Who's it for?" He laid his staff against the wall and helped Jamie get the garbage.

"Well," Jamie strained from the weight, "Mom's been busier than usual lately…and she says it'll be that way for a long time…" They started to lift the huge bag into the big blue bin. "So she…hired us…" They finally dropped it in just as he finished with "a nanny!"

"_A nanny?!_" Jack said, looking aghast, "Aw, Jamie, I didn't come a moment too soon! You're gonna _need_ me!"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Jamie!" Mrs. Bennett called from the front door, "Did you take out the trash?"

"Yeah, Mom!" Jamie answered, "It was just a little heavy is all!"

"Well, come back in," she said, "We need to air the room out so we can dust, so grab the Swiffers, will you?"

"Okay!" he nodded, "You comin', Jack?"

"Yeah," he smiled mischievously, "Matter of fact, I'll meet you up there."

"Uh…okay," said Jamie, "See you inside."

_'Oh, boy,'_ he thought as he trotted off, _'He's got that look on his face. That can only mean one thing.'_ He grinned. _'He's about to do something cool!'_

"Come on, Soph!" he took his little sister's hand. They got upstairs just in time to see their mother pull a cord to open a shabby old set of curtains ("Been meaning to replace these," she murmured) to reveal Jack Frost to their child's eyes. Jamie held back a snort and shushed Sophie's giggling.

The window was right across from the door; it looked and worked just like Jamie's, except the sill was wide enough to sit on and had built-in cushions. It was also slightly bigger and obviously in need of a good dusting.

Mrs. Bennett knelt on the window sill and scooted up to undo its deadbolt on top and then its smaller latch in the middle. When she opened it wide, Jack immediately swooped in on a snowy gust. With a laugh of carefree joy he swept around the whole room once, winked at the kids and tapped their mother's nose on his way out.

"Whoo!" she exclaimed and rubbed her arms, "That was exciting!"

"Looks like Jack Frost played a trick on you, Mom!" Jamie laughed.

"He certainly did!" she smiled, "The mischievous imp. Swiffer, please!"

"Wow," said Jack, floating outside the window, "For a nonbeliever, you know me pretty well!"

* * *

"Thanks for your help today, Jamie," his mother said that night as she tucked him in, "I think she'll be really happy."

"You're welcome," he smiled, "Good night, Mom."

"Sleep tight, honey." She kissed him and left the room. After ten slow counts to Mississippi, the boy jumped out of bed and opened the window to let Jack inside. They played around as quietly as they could and ended up reading Jamie's Bigfoot book on their stomachs across from each other.

"So what about it, Jack?" he asked with excitement, "Is Bigfoot real, too?"

"To tell the truth, I don't know," Jack answered truthfully, "I've never seen him myself, but that doesn't mean he's not real." Jamie smiled and looked thoughtfully at the book. Jack relaxed on the bed.

"Hey, Jack," he said, "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course," said Jack, "What's up?" Jamie flopped onto his pillow with the book in his arms.

"I know you like to play tricks on people and stuff," he said, "but can you promise not to do that to Jo?"

"Who's Jo?" Jack said weirdly.

"Joanna Fitzgerald," said Jamie, "She's gonna be our nanny and she's coming tomorrow. Mom told us she's an orphan and she's traveled a lot, so could you please be nice to her? Please?"

Jack felt like he'd been punched in the gut at the sound of the "O" word. An orphan? That was the ultimate prankster block! How could he enjoy pulling a winter joke on an orphan nanny? Then he saw the pleading look in Jamie's eyes and smiled.

"All right, you win," he said, "I'll do it for you."

"Pinky promise!" Jamie held out his pinky and they sealed the deal.

"Don't worry about a thing, Jamie," he said and tucked him back in, "I'll step out of character and be a good boy."

"Thanks, Jack," Jamie sighed drowsily, "See you tomorrow?"

"You bet." Jack tapped him on the nose. "Good night, Jamie." He scruffed the kid's hair, grabbed his staff and slipped out the window and onto the roof. A familiar and light double-thump alerted him to the unexpected arrival of the Easter Bunny.

"What are you doing here?" he cocked an eyebrow, "Shouldn't you be in your egg hole?"

"Had a little business to take care of," Bunny answered.

"Is that little business called Sophie?" Jack teased.

"As a matter of fact," he said testily, "yes."

"Aw, that's so cute," Jack baby-talked at him.

"Rack off, snowflake," he waved off, "By the way, what's this window on the side doing uncurtained? Bit early for spring cleaning."

"Oh, you're gonna _love_ this, man," Jack rolled his eyes and started pacing, "The mom went and got 'em a _nanny_." Despite his promise, the word still put a bad taste in his mouth.

"A nanny, eh?" Bunny smiled slyly, "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"You say it like it's a good thing," Jack said weirdly, "Dude, have you ever _seen_ nannies?"

"Have _you_?"

"Yes! They're crazy-strict little old ladies with gray hair and funny accents. She's gonna make them miserable!" Bunny started chuckling with his face in his paw. "What's so funny?"

"You are, mate," he laughed, "How can you have lived 300 years and be so far behind the times? We've come a long, _long_ way from Katy Nana and Nanny McPhee, Jack. Now, the nannies _I've_ seen are between the ages of 18 and 30. Parents want young adults 'cause they've got the energy to keep up with the little ankle-biters."

"Is that so?" Jack said, "We'll just have to wait and see, then."

"Planning a little reception, are you?" Bunny asked.

"Yeah." Jack twirled his staff. "Not the usual, though. I promised Jamie I wouldn't pull anything on her, so I figure I'll do a little decorating."

"Of course," Bunny chuckled, "Just try not to give her a heart attack, eh?"

"I'll let you know how it goes," Jack smiled.

"Cheers, mate," Bunny saluted and hopped off into the night. After watching him go, Jack Frost took a look at the half-snowed front yard.

"All right, Nanny Jo," he said quietly as he cracked his knuckles, "Let's get this party set up."

* * *

**Author's Review****:**

Another question: Do Aussies use the phrase "cheers, mate"? I couldn't find it on any of the Aussie slang websites I went on, but I know they originated from Britain, so I figured maybe they do? Any Brits or Aussies in the audience?

And I don't think I need to tell y'all how old Nanny Jo is really going to be. I'm dealing with an intelligent audience, after all. ;)

I realize I'm using the phrase "of course" a lot in this story. I'll probably be doing that a lot. Please be patient with me; this is my hiatus-buster.

By the way, am I keeping Jack in character? I'm trying real hard to make him talk more or less the same way he did in the movie, it's just that when I get in the zone, I tend to make everybody sound uncharacteristically poetic (except North; fortunately for me, he always sounds mystical). And I'm trying real hard to keep the body language and faces correct, too. Am I trying _too_ hard?

Anyway, please review and bask with me in the cold glow of Jack Frost!


	3. Nanny Jo

This one's a bit shorter than the first couple; it might actually be the shortest chapter in the whole thing. I'll warn you again that this is probably just another Jack-falls-in-love story, but it's mine and I like working on it. I'll also further warn you that this is essentially a love-at-first-sight deal…sort of. I know it's a worn-out cliché, but it can turn out great, depending on how you do it. Dang, I hope I do this right…

* * *

_"Will she be firm? Will she give commands? Will she __mold__ our young breed?"_ – Winifred, _Mary Poppins_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Nanny Jo**

Jack was up _way_ before the sun that next morning; after he decorated the yard and the front of the house, he settled in his favorite tree right outside Jamie's window and went right to sleep. Now he was perched on a limb, hidden behind fat snow pockets that balanced on a hair trigger. No one else was up yet; he just wanted to take a look at his handiwork.

There was a whole new foot of snow all over the yard, specially whipped up by the wind to give it that fluffed pillow look with a happy snowman standing by the mailbox. The entire front of the house was frosted in all sorts of intricate patterns and curves and curlicues. The porch pillars had flower shapes on them! Roses, magnolias, dogwoods, even some impatiens danced across the rounded surfaces in a seasonal paradox of imagery. Icicles hung from the roof that were pointy enough to look good but not sharp enough to harm anyone. He was also careful to leave the porch, sidewalk and driveway clean and dry; no matter what Bunny said, it wouldn't do to take chances, whatever age she was.

Now the sun was coming up to put on the finishing touches; not only did everything sparkle softly like the stars, but it all went from milky to pink in a matter of minutes. The family was just waking up inside to get ready for the arrival and Jack could hardly wait for them to see what he'd done. He settled back to wait while they ate, got dressed and hung a banner on the porch that said "WELCOME JOANNA!"

"Here she comes, guys!" said Mom, "Wave, Sophie!" She picked her up and they all waved. Jamie looked towards the tree, where he knew Jack was. They shared a smile and the boy turned to look down the street to his left. A bluish-grayish car came coasting up and when it pulled in, Jack could see a gray stripe across it with _The Thing_ written on it in the same color.

_'A Thing?'_ he thought with a snort of laughter, _'I haven't seen one of those since the 80s!'_

They went to the car to greet its driver, who stepped out and lovingly greeted her new family with a heartwarming smile.

"Whoa," Jack muttered, "Right on the money, Bunny." She was young—like, close to his own age young. She had light brown hair with faint honey-blonde streaks that was thinned and cropped halfway down her neck. She wore a khaki ladies' winter coat and mittens and Timberline Sherpa winter boots.

She wasn't exactly drop-dead, supermodel, teen-romance-heroine beautiful, like most girls he'd seen her age. Hers was the kind of beauty that glowed from the inside with its own humble light. It was soft and unassuming.

It was perfect.

That being said, he still managed to stay quiet and not make a winter ruckus…until she opened her eyes. That made Jack do something he hadn't done since his first century of immortality.

He fell out of the tree!

All heads turned to the snow plopping from its branches like a child dumping sand out of a bucket, but only two of them could see the cause of it. Sophie laughed and that made Joanna laugh, too.

"I'll take this in for you," said Mrs. Bennett.

"Oh, thank you!" she chimed, "I'll start unloading!"

While she turned to get her old-fashioned green footlocker out of her car, Jamie looked back to see that Jack had snuck up behind him. With the softest whisper possible he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jack whispered back, "Yeah, I'm okay."

"What happened?"

A grunt of effort from Joanna interrupted their secret conference. Jack stood straight up; he wanted to help her carry that heavy footlocker somehow _and_ get a better look at her.

"Hey, Jamie," he leaned over, "Want to see how I made your sled fly off?" He secretly nodded with a smile. Joanna was going to let it fall onto the soft snow, but instead it went sliding on an ice track all the way to the front door!

"Cool!" Jamie exclaimed.

"Okay…" Joanna said confusingly, "That just happened."

Now that Jack had her standing still, he stood before her and took a long look at her. He had about three inches on her and looked through her bangs and into the eyes that had shot him out of the tree like a bird. They were light brown with a touch of gold, just as he'd thought. His blue eyes widened emotionally.

"Honey Eyes?" he murmured with astonishment, "Is that you?"

He reached up to touch her face but she shocked him further by walking right through him! Jamie stayed behind to see if there was anything else to get out; after making sure her back was turned, he tugged on Jack's sleeve.

"Jack, what's wrong?" he asked anxiously, "Do you know her?"

Jack had the same freaked-out expression he'd had when he first discovered that no human could see, hear or feel him and he flinched at Jamie's touch.

"Jamie," he breathed and squatted to hold him by the arms, "You can see me, right?"

"Of course I can," the boy replied, "What's the matter, Jack? You look like you're going to cry!" He walked into him and hugged him tightly around his torso. It always helped Sophie; maybe it would help Jack, too.

"Don't be scared, Jack," he said firmly yet soothingly, "I can still see you."

Jack clung gratefully to Jamie's small yet strong body as relief and sorrow swept over him in turns.

Jamie could still see him.

But she could not.

* * *

**Author's Review****:**

So yeah, that was kinda short and emotional! I'm kind of abusive as a writer, but it moves the story.

Maybe it's not so much a love-at-first-sight thing as much as a blast from the past thing that escalates into love. Or maybe I should just shut up and let y'all read the thing!

And speaking of The Thing, I saw a car by that name at an old car show a couple of months ago and I thought it looked really cool!

The next chapter will only be slightly longer than this one; these are the chapters where I'm figuring out what kind of person Joanna is, so please bear with me.

Oh, and in case you want to know why her name is Joanna, the answer is simple: It sounded good. I didn't want to do the Jack and Jill bit because it made my inner muse throw up. I thought about naming her Rose after Rose Tyler from Doctor Who, but my inner muse was all like "Hold on—Jack and Rose? Do you really want to go down that road?" So we're creating a new Jack thing: Jack and Jo! Or whatever. Please review and look forward to more! It gets better, I promise!


	4. The Nanny Notes

I started typing this right after posting chapter 2; I'm not sure how much longer I'll have the freedom of this kick-awesome laptop (normally I'm using the family PC and that's not much time for me).

I think I gave Jamie more responsibility than he had in the movie, but I can't help it! He's so adorable!

FUN FACT: He's the same kid from _Real Steel!_ He's such a little man!

Okay, I've run out of babbling. Let's get to it!

* * *

_"What can I say? Chicks are my kryptonite."_ – Batman, _How Thor Should Have Ended_

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Nanny Notes**  
That night, Jack and Jamie had a talk about Nanny Jo. Jack lay on the bed and Jamie sat up with a pen and a notebook. After everything Jack had done for him and his friends, he was determined to help him in every way he could.

"Okay, Jack," he said, "Just start at the beginning."

"All right," Jack chuckled at his grown-up approach, "It was back in the mid-sixties and I was up in Minnesota near the Great Lakes. I met this little girl after chasing off some bullies and she looked almost exactly like Joanna…except she wasn't human. She was a spirit child."

Jamie looked wide-eyed at him.

"Are you saying Joanna's not human?" he asked, flabbergasted.

"That's just it," Jack shrugged, "I don't know. Most nature spirits grow up the same way humans do, with a handful of exceptions. The girl I met couldn't have been any older than you are. She'd have to be…" He counted off on his fingers. "In her fifties by now."

"But Jo's only eighteen," said Jamie as he wrote, "and she can't see you. Can other spirit kids see you?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "Spirits can always see or recognize each other." He stared at the ceiling. "So why can't she?" Jamie finished writing and looked at his notes. Then he looked at Jack.

"What if she's like you?" he mused. Jack looked surprised.

"What do you mean?" he said.

"You told me the moon made you stop growing older," the child said, "What if it did the same thing to her?" Jack stared thoughtfully at him.

"That would explain her age," he said, "but what would the moon choose her for?"

"Maybe she's a Guardian!" Jamie lit up.

"I'm not so sure about that," Jack laughed, "She'd see me if she was."

"Yeah…" Jamie flipped a few pages. "Still, though…it'd be cool." He closed the notebook and rubbed his eyes. "We'll figure it out, Jack. I'll help you."

"Hey, don't you worry about me, Jamie." Jack flipped over. "You should be thinking about Jo the nanny, not the long lost spirit girl."

"But I _want_ to help you, Jack," Jamie said as he settled in, "You've always helped me." Jack smiled fondly at him.

"Thanks, Jamie," he said and ruffled the kid's hair, "Just don't over do it, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, "God night, Jack."

"Good night, kiddo."

This time he didn't leave until after Jamie's dreams projected themselves above his head in Sandman gold. Then he hopped from his window to Joanna's and floated there.

She was sitting across the sill with her knees against the glass and the new pink-and-silver curtains almost drawn closed. Jack didn't take into account what kind of pajamas she might be wearing, but fortunately she was in a full-length silvery white cotton nightgown with flowing sleeves halfway down to her elbows and a somewhat square neckline. She also had a necklace on, but the charm was hidden underneath.

Jack "sat" in the air next to her and leaned his head on the window like she did and felt a twinge of sadness that the glass wasn't the only thing standing between them. He had a brief flashback of the second time he'd gone to visit the spirit girl. There was a moment that time when Jack was walking through one of the city parks with her on his back. They had so much fun that day! At one point she put her small mittened hands over his ears.

"What are you doing?" he'd asked amusingly.

"Your ears are cold," was her answer, "so I'm warming them up." His smile went so wide it made them move.

"That might take a long time," he chuckled.

"It's okay," she said brightly, "I'll keep them covered until they're not cold anymore!"

Oddly enough, Jack recalled with a soft smile, his heart had warmed up instead of his ears. He looked at her again, her face washed in moonlight; the hair and eyes were lighter in color than he remembered, but it had to be her.

Or her daughter, the thought occurred to him. Spirits married humans all the time; would a half-human spirit child see him? He wasn't too sure and it sounded like a long limb to go out on. Then he got an idea.

"You can't see me," he said quietly as his finger reached for the window, "but I'll bet you can see this."

* * *

Joanna was so happy to be here at last after traveling for so long. The Bennetts were a treasure of a family, they had a good dog, and her room was wonderful and cozy.

It hadn't taken her long to settle in; all she brought were a suitcase full of clothes and her footlocker full of books. That was all she needed.

That and the moon.

_'I'm here,'_ she thought peacefully, _'Now what?'_

As if in answer, a layer of frost appeared on the pane next to her face that startled her right off the window sill. She scrambled up onto her knees and pushed the curtain behind her open. The frost was shaped like a perfect snowflake!

She wasn't sure whether to cover her mouth or her heart, so she covered both. She certainly hadn't expected _this_ to happen her first day. The moon shone on it and made it shimmer and she knew what that meant.

"Jack Frost," she whispered and climbed onto the sill.

* * *

Jack had laughed out loud at seeing the way she fell off the window sill. He'd also seen the shock on her face; he hoped a memory was stirring in her heart. Then he saw her mouth form his name and watched as she frantically undid the locks on the window and threw it open!

"Jack Frost?" she called loudly. Jack dropped his jaw; she couldn't see him _that_ fast, could she?

He floated right up to her to make sure, but she still had that familiar look of seeing through him. He did the next best thing and made a gust of snow swirl around her.

She definitely felt that; she laughed while holding her bangs out of her face.

"I'll take that as a yes!" she said happily, "If you can hear me, please listen: I'm gonna need some time to get into a routine here, but I'd like to talk to you soon. You may not believe this, but I've been looking for you for a long time!"

* * *

**Author's Review****:**  
You might as well get used to the cliffhangers, 'cause there'll be a lot of those! LOL

I think I turned her window into something more like Peter Pan than like Jamie's smaller window. It just sort of mutated that way. ^_^ There's gonna be a lot of action in this window, so I hope y'all like that sort of thing!

Next chapter we get a taste of Jo's nanny skills! No, she's not exactly Mary Poppins, but she's good!


	5. Jamie's Investigation

First let me clear something up: Joanna does not remember Jack. This will be explained more fully in the next chapter. This chapter has some important bonding time between her and Jamie. I think you'll like it!

* * *

_"Just one more thing…"_ – Peter Falk as _Columbo_

* * *

**Chapter 4: Jamie's Investigation  
**Jamie watched his new nanny cooking the rest of breakfast for Mom before she came down. He and Sophie were already well into their pancakes and bacon, which were delicious, and he was thinking. He knew Jack was away doing his job, spreading the white stuff all over the tri-state area. He also knew that, for whatever reason, it was important that they find out whether or not Joanna was really the spirit child Jack had met so long ago. It intrigued Jamie; not only would she be a grown-up believer in Jack Frost, she'd also be the coolest nanny ever!

So he waited until his mother left for work (she had to work Sundays now and then) and helped Jo with the dishes while she cleaned off Sophie's face.

"Can we go outside today, Joanna?" he asked.

"Sure," she nodded, "Your mother said it's okay, so we'll go out after we clean up and get dressed."

"Snow! Snow! Snow!" Sophie bounced, making Jo laugh.

"You sure are excited!" she chimed and picked her up.

"Sophie and I love playing in the snow!" said Jamie, "We do it every day!"

"Me, too!" she smiled, "So let's get dressed and go have some fun!"

In no time at all the three of them were out in the yard throwing snowballs.

"Hey, Jamie!" his friends waved and came over.

"Nice to meet you all!" she waved. They responded in kind and joined them.

"Joanna, can I ask you something?" said Jamie while the two of them built a snowman.

"Anything," she said, "And you can call me Jo if you want."

"Okay," he said, "Jo…" He hesitated and scooted closer. "Do you believe in Jack Frost?"

She stopped and stared at him. She slipped slowly to her knees.

"Yeah," she said, mystified, "Yeah, I believe in Jack Frost. Why do you ask?" Jamie looked around for a quick second and leaned in.

"Would you believe me if I told you I know him?" he said closely.

Here was a dilemma: Jamie and Joanna didn't know each other very well; they'd just met, as a matter of fact. They were both well aware of this, so there was no way Jamie could know what a deep subject this was for her any more than Joanna could know that Jamie poke from experience and not the usual childhood fantasy. He was worried she might not believe him (as was the way with grown-ups) and she was worried he might be making it up (as was sometimes the way with children).

Finally Joanna decided this moment had become unnecessarily tense and carefully posed the child a question.

"What _do_ you know about him, Jamie? You, personally?"

She couldn't help but smile at the way his eyes lit up.

"I know _everything_ about him," he said with quiet awe.

"Then I'll tell you what," she proposed, "Tonight at bedtime, we'll talk about it and you can tell me everything you know. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah," he nodded firmly, "Pinky promise?"

"Pinky Promise!"

* * *

After such a fun-filled snow day, it was a letdown when Mrs. Bennett called to say she had to work late. While the kids talked to their mother, Joanna started locking the house down with a sad face. She wondered how they'd take it.

Understandably, not very well.

"Aw, Sophie," she said as she picked her up and sat on the couch with her, "I'm sorry, honey."

"Mama!" Sophie cried out loud. Jamie looked sad too, and he sat real close to Joanna.

"Don't cry, Sophie," he said, holding her little hand, "It's gonna be okay."

Sophie's leaky eyes opened and she reached for her big brother.

"I got her, Jo," he assured her as she passed her over, "She always hangs on me when she cries. I don't mind."

"Here." Jo scooped him onto her lap. "I'll hold you both."

Jack peeked through the living room curtains and felt equal amounts of envy at the three of them bundled up together and pride in the girl he was sure he knew. He thought of another time he'd gone to see her. He was near Lake Ontario that time and was waiting for her dad to disappear so they could play. He was also having an emo moment about his invisibility. By the time the child found him, he was curled in on himself against a building with his head down. Without a word, she hunkered down beside him and leaned on him with her arms around one of his. He looked up in surprise at her; spirits had a _very_ light tread, especially at her age.

She was wrapped in purple this time, a hooded fleece poncho with Sherpa lining and matching mittens with a big snowflake monogrammed on each one. Her little eyes were warm with concern and he let her reach up to dry his cold tears.

"I heard somebody say," she said quietly, "that no one should cry alone. You have to have somebody to hold you." He smiled dearly at her and put his arm around her. She hugged him around the waist and they just sat there together in a content quiet. It wasn't Jack's usual forte, but it still made him happy.

He smiled now at the young woman in the house holding the two kids he loved most.

"You're still the same," he whispered to himself. He leaned back on the house and put his hood up. "Whether you see me or not," he sighed, "you're still the same."

* * *

It was Jamie's good fortune to have been born with a stronger resilience than was usual in children. As soon as Jo had Sophie down and out and Jamie was in his PJs, he dragged his nanny to his room by the hand.

"Come on!" he said quietly, "I've still got to tell you all about Jack!"

"Are you sure you're still up for that, Jamie?" she asked worryingly, "'Cause, you know, we don't have to talk about it right now."

"No, no!" he insisted, "I really want to! Besides, I Pinky Promised!"

He jumped onto his bed, reached underneath, and whipped out an Avengers binder.

First he felt it necessary to give her a rundown on the Guardians and catch her up on the incredible events that led to his unshakeable belief in Jack Frost; then he went into the particulars he knew about Jack himself, including pictures he drew of him. The more Joanna listened, the more she believed him.

"So do you believe me?" he asked after finishing his bed bounce. She watched him for a minute.

"Yes," she finally said, "and do you know why?"

"Why?" he grinned, excited at his imminent success. She leaned in.

"Because of your eyes," she said, "I can see the light and the magic in them, the light of someone who has believed before seeing and been rewarded with vision unclouded by doubt. (…) I'm sorry—does that make any sense?"

"If it means you believe me," he said, "then yes!" He hopped off to unlock his window. The moon was right outside, watching all the while.

"Did you know," he said wondrously, "it was the moon that made him Jack Frost?" When she made no reply, he turned curiously to see her staring at him as if he'd just said something groundbreaking.

"Did you just say," she said in an amazed voice, "the _moon_ made him Jack Frost?"

"That's what he told me," he answered, "Is…that important?" Again she made no reply; she stood up from where she was kneeling by the bed and joined him at the window. The moonlight filled her eyes and made a soft halo of Jamie's hair. He held her hand and took a deep breath, unsure of how—or even _if_—she'd respond to his next statement.

"He also told me," he said softly, "that he knows you." She whipped her head at him in astonishment.

"How?" she asked, only to be cut off by the wind blowing in through the window.

"That's enough, Jamie," said Jack on the sill, "She's had enough for one night."

"What are you talking about?" said Jamie, "We're just getting to the good stuff!"

"Jamie, who are you talking to?" asked the nanny.

"To Jack," he answered.

"He's here?" She looked around the room. "What did he say to you?"

"He said that was enough for tonight," he said.

"Heh," she chuckled, "I agree with him. If we get any more excited, neither of us will sleep tonight!"

"I guess you're right," he conceded.

"Is he still here?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded, "He's sitting right there, on the window sill."

"Can he hear me?" she asked further. He nodded again. Joanna looked where he pointed and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Jack," she said clearly, "My name is Joanna Fitzgerald. I don't know if Jamie told you, but I'm here to look after him and Sophie while their mother's working." She took a deep breath. "Jamie told me all about you and I believe him. I can tell he knows." Jamie smiled up at her and she smiled back. "I can't see you," she continued, "not yet. But I have a feeling I will."

While she was talking, Jamie began to feel a sweet warmth slowly seep into his body, starting in his shoulders, where Jo's hands were. Bit by bit the excitement and fun of the day and his worry over his mom began to float away like butterflies to be replaced with an almost overwhelming sense of peace: Mom would be home in the morning and Joanna—a _grown-up_—believed in Jack.

Cradled in the happiness of this knowledge, he slumped back against his new friend. She beamed down at him and scooped him up to put him to bed. Jack followed closely, watching her like a child with a close-up magician.

"_You_ did that," he said in quiet amazement, "I just saw you do that." He watched her tuck the child in and gently stroke his hair. Jamie smiled sleepily at her and looked at Jack.

"I did it, Jack," he said as he started to drift off, "I made her believe in you."

Joanna looked to her right where he was looking, and guessed Jack was right beside her.

"I have more to say to you," she whispered, "If you've got the time, I'd like to see you at _my_ window. Is that all right?"

Jamie was asleep now, so Jack answered her by frosting a checkmark on the window. She smiled and nodded, turned off the lights and left the room.

* * *

**Author's Review****:  
**I hope you like the outfit I put on her in the flashback! If I was a better artist, I'd draw a picture of her and put it on my deviantart! It'd be so cute! But my drawings suck, so it's left to the imagination. Oh, and don't get used to that little power of hers just yet. She won't use it again for a long time.

Next chapter will be the backstory chapter with a lot of essentially one-sided conversations between Jack and Jo. It's gonna be emotionally intense, man!


	6. Story of the Moon

BACKSTORY CHAPTER! Btw, I can't wait for Despicable Me 2 to come out! Lipstick tazer!

The emotional stuff I do here is heavily flavored with inspiration from **StarKatt427**.

* * *

_"Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz, this is your Backstory!"_ – Announcer, _Phineas and Ferb_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Story of the Moon  
**Jack had a million questions on his mind as he flitted impatiently across her window.

What had she done to put Jamie almost out like that?

What had she meant when she said she'd been looking for him?

Why had she believed in him so easily after it took him centuries just to get one child to believe?

And that thing about the moon…

He sat against the outside of the window sill and stared into space for a minute, remembering the look on her face. It was as if something inside her had clicked into place that would never unclick again.

He felt the moonlight touch him and looked up at it with a feeling the moon knew something he didn't.

"What did you do?" he asked suspiciously. The lights came on behind him and he spun around in time for the curtains to fly open and reveal Nanny Jo. She stepped up on the sill and opened the window all the way.

"You there, Jack?" she asked quietly. Her hand was dusted with snow and she nodded. "Would you mind making the wind blow? There's something I have to show you."

She didn't know it, but Jack was standing right next to her. He wasn't sure what she was going to do, but he did as she asked. She smiled.

"Thank you." And she stepped out of the window! Jack freaked out at first but stopped dead when he saw her get swept up by his own wind!

"Whoo!" she laughed as it carried her around the block and high over the houses. Jack followed close behind to make sure she stayed up and gently floated her back to her room with snowflakes swirling all around her.

"You just rode my wind!" he exclaimed in dumbfounded shock, "How can you ride _my_ wind and not see me?!"

"I know you're wondering how I did that," she said breathlessly with pink cheeks and wild hair that made Jack's heart thump. "The truth is I've been able to do that for a long time." A question mark appeared on the window and Joanna took that as "How long?" Her answer was "Since 1975."

"WHAT?" Jack burst out with a snowy gust, unable to help himself, "Are you telling me you've been…however old you are for, like, 40 _years?"_

"Are you freaking out?" she asked over the wind, "'Cause I kind of feel like you are, but I don't know what you're saying."

"Ugh!" Jack groaned and face-palmed himself. The wind died down and he looked at her. She looked embarrassed and he realized she had probably never told anyone about any of this. Jack had spent 300 years wishing people could see him, but he could never have even _begun_ to explain his immortality to them. He wondered how Jo had managed to do it…and how he could possibly _ask_ her about it!

Finally he decided to try something he'd been working on.

"Jack?" she said, "Are you still here?" She gasped and stepped back when she saw frost writing appear on the floor in excellent penmanship! Her whole face went red at the one word he wrote: _Always._

"Okay," her voice softened, "Thank you. Um…Hmm?"

The word was swept off and replaced with a question: _What do you remember?_ She sighed.

"Not much," she confessed as she sat on the cushioned window sill. He hopped over and sat on the other end, leaning on his staff. "Where are you?" A frost arrow pointed him out and she looked up at where he was.

"Okay," she said and curled up to face him, "There's not much to tell, like I said, but here's what I remember…

"It was November of '75. I woke up to find myself floating in water. I could feel anything, not even the cold. All I could feel was floating—up and down, side to side, letting the water toss me around like a hot potato." Jack couldn't help chuckling at that.

"I also remember feeling this overwhelming despair," she continued, "like I didn't even want to live. I wanted to die so much I could hardly breathe (never mind that I was drowning). I wondered why the water didn't just swallow me…but then I opened my eyes…" She looked up and out; Jack's skin prickled as he watched the soft light swim in her eyes. His heart hammered with disbelief at what he knew she was about to say. He crawled over to her and said it with her, not caring that she wouldn't hear him.

"And you/I saw the moon."

Jo's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she whipped it forward and it startled Jack back across the seat. Had she _heard_ him?

The moon lit them both on some sort of silver fire that only Jack could see. Their hair blazed in its light and he could see starlight dancing in those eyes he knew. He also saw her looking hard for him and caught himself thinking how beautiful she looked right now.

"Yes," she blinked breathlessly, still searching, "I saw the moon."

"It lifted you into the sky," he prompted, trying to see if she heard.

Evidently not.

"It picked me up," she said, "It's like it just reached down and scooped me out with one hand and…and it _changed_ me."

"And it spoke to you, didn't it?" Jack jumped ahead excitedly as he squatted in front of her, "What did he tell you?"

"And I know it sounds crazy," she said as she moved to a kneeling position, "but…but the moon…_talked_ to me!"

This lopsided conversation was driving Jack nuts. Quickly he repeated his question in frost writing on the floor. For no reason he could think of, Joanna blushed deeply, adding a rosy glow to the soft light she already wore. She glanced up to where she hoped his face was.

"The only thing he ever told me was," she said quietly, _"Your answer is with Jack Frost."_

Jack and Joanna sat there on that window sill for a good five minutes, staring right at each other through some fluke of destiny, though only Jack knew it.

_Your answer is with Jack Frost._ He wrote the words on the floor, partly to pick up the conversation and partly to see them for himself.

"Yeah," she nodded, "That's just how he put it. I think he said that because I kept asking him things like who am I, why did he change me, is there somewhere I'm supposed to be…but that's the only answer he would give me."

"Figures," Jack scoffed and raised an eyebrow at the moon.

"So I looked for you," she continued, "I studied every bit of research I could get my hands on, which wasn't much, times being what they were. It never did me any good, but I couldn't just give up. The moon gave me your name, so I knew you were real, but…for the life of me, I could never find you."

By this time, Jack was sitting beside her with one foot on the sill and an arm resting on it. He could tell she at least was starting to sense him because her toes were tucked under her nightgown. He pointed the butt of his staff to the floor and asked her how she finally found the Bennetts. She smiled.

"I didn't know much about you," she answered, "but I knew you were the one that made all that snow for the kids and they loved you for it, so I decided to work with them. I started working as a nanny back in the 80s and, as you can imagine, I had to plan it all carefully so I could work long _enough_ but not so long they'd notice my lack of aging. I went through six families that way until one night last month, when I was looking for a new one. The Bennetts came u[ on the website I used and the moon shone on it, like he wanted me here." She smiled again. "I called Mrs. B, we talked, and here I am!"

Jack smiled and glanced at the moon again.

"He sent you here," he murmured. He then wrote, _Did he name you, too?_

"No," she said, "That one was my idea…

"The moon put me on my feet on the shore of what turned out to be Lake Superior. It was just calming down from a storm. I heard someone call out the name Joanna and I liked how it sounded. Then I saw something come up on the tide." She started to look nervous. "It was a lifesaver from the _Edmund Fitzgerald._"

Now she was trembling visibly and it shocked him.

"I don't know why," her voice shook fearfully, "but something about that ship frightens me. Despite that, I took the name as my own, because it's important to me. I don't know how, but it is. I've been Joanna Fitzgerald ever since."

She leaned on the window and rubbed one of her arms.

"I searched for you for 38 years," she whispered sadly, "and now you're right in front of me…and I can't even see you!" She buried her head in her knees.

* * *

**Author's Review****:  
**I don't want to hear anything about the _Edmund Fitzgerald._ I did my homework; I know there were no women aboard and I'm not answering any questions about it, okay? I don't mean to sound pedantic, but it's all part of the story. It'll be okay!

Tune in next time for the other half of Joanna's backstory!


	7. Silver and Gold

Thanks for the reviews so far! I hope y'all will stick around because I'll go ahead and flatter myself that this is some of the fluffiest fluff I've ever fluffed! LOL

This is one of the chapters that is particularly heavy with **StarKatt427** spice (for some reason, whenever I mention other writers who have numbers, I feel like shortening their names. Weird, huh?) It's a little short, but there's a lot of flirting in the later end of it. Tee-hee! And there are more lopsided conversations between the two.

Oh, and I have a question: What kind of sweaters did guys wear in the 60s and 70s? Whatever they wore back then, that's what Jack wore…I theorize.

* * *

_"No one ever leaves Two Rivers."_ – Rand al'Thor, _The Eye of the World_

* * *

**Chapter 6: Silver and Gold  
**Joanna wasn't the only one crying in that window. Jack watched her with a hand in his hair and he was fighting hard to steady his breathing, not wanting to throw a frustrated snow fit.

The last time he'd seen her cry was early winter of '68 in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. She'd come running up to him in tears, flung herself into his arms and cried, "Jack! My dad says I can't see you anymore!" To see her in hysterics like this had torn him up enough, but this declaration nearly threw him into a panic! His first friend in 200-ish years and now her jerkwad dad was separating them. He remembered how helpless he'd felt as he and the child clung to each other for dear life, the wretched tears he'd let fall at the thought of never seeing his precious friend again. No human could see him back then and most spirits just didn't care. This girl was the only one of her kind that had ever cared for him.

Now she was back and crying again; only this time, he couldn't hold her.

"Why?" he hoarsely asked the moon, "Why did you send her back to me if she can't even see me?"

"Jack?" her small voice spoke his name.

_I'm here,_ he wrote. She wiped her eyes and put her feet down.

"Jamie said you know me," she hesitated, "Is that true?"

He didn't answer at first, just looked at her with deep, sad eyes. She looked worn out and tired.

_Meet me here tomorrow night,_ he wrote, _I promise I'll tell you everything._

"All right," she said, "I guess I _have_ had enough for one night. I just wanted you to know."

_Wait right there._ He leaned out the window and looked up at the sky. When he found who he was looking for, he whistled.

"HEY, SANDY!" he waved him over. In no time, the silent golden Guardian was at the window. "Hey, man. Would you knock her out for me?"

Sandy looked over and saw Joanna. He made a question mark over his head.

"It's a long story, believe me," said Jack. The Sandman wasn't exactly satisfied with this answer, but he smiled warmly and blew a dose of his enchanted dust out of his hand that swirled tantalizingly around her head and reflected in her wonder-filled eyes for a moment. She could _see_ it!

"The Sandman," she murmured sleepily, "Thank you for coming." She slumped against the wall.

"Thanks, man," said Jack as he jumped down to get her. _Now_ he could touch her, so he gently moved her warm face from the wall with one hand and smiled tenderly at her. The sheen of the moonlight blended with the shimmer of Sandy's gold, making her look like an angel.

Jack felt a new version of the old affection he'd had for her as a child and he held her head and kissed her deeply on the forehead. Sandy floated inside.

"I got my girl back," Jack said softly, "She can't see me yet…but she's back."

He picked her up, surprised at how light she was, and laid her in her bed. Sandy came over and made a more demanding gesture. Jack smiled.

"Meet me on the roof," he said as he tucked her in, "I'll tell you the whole story."

He didn't stay long enough to see her dreams take the shape of a ship sailing on the water.

* * *

"I'm so sorry about last night, Joanna," said Mrs. Bennett the next morning, "My manager caught me at the last minute."

"Oh, don't think anything of it," said Joanna as she scrambled some eggs, "You don't have to apologize to me. This is what I'm here for." She served her the eggs and poured her some orange juice.

"You're spoiling me," Mrs. Bennett chuckled.

"That's _also_ what I'm here for!" Jo giggled, "Jamie? Sophie? You guys need any more?"

"Yes, please!" Jamie eagerly held out his plate.

"All done!" said Sophie.

"You're done, all right," said her mother, "And some of it's on your face!" She started to clean her off and said, "I get to go to work late today because of last night, so I'm going to take the kids to school." The kids cheered.

"Not a problem," said Jo, "I'll hold down the fort and do some housecleaning."

"Thanks," said Mrs. Bennett, "And if you don't mind, would you walk Abby, too?"

"Sure!" In a few minutes, the Bennetts were bundled, backpacked, and piling into the car. While his mother strapped Sophie into the toddler seat, Jamie stood on the porch with Joanna, who had Abby by the collar.

"Hey, Jo," he said quietly, "Did you see Jack last night?"

"No, I didn't _see_ him," she answered, "but I talked to him."

"Did you hear him, at least?" the boy asked with excitement.

"No," she sighed, then chuckled, "He had to submit his questions in writing—_frost _writing."

"But you said you believed in him," Jamie said, confused.

"I do," she replied and squatted, "Believe me, I really do. I just…don't know why I can't see him yet." She saw an intent look on the child's face, like he wanted to say something else. "What is it, Jamie?"

"What if it's because you're a grown-up?" he mused. She opened her mouth to answer, then stopped and thought for a second.

"I've never thought of that," she said, "Maybe grown-ups—even ones who believe—just take longer than kids. Good idea, Jamie!" He beamed at the praise. "Now don't you go worrying about me," she said and ruffled his hair, "Today you concentrate on school, okay?"

"All right," he rolled his eyes playfully, "You know, you're as bad as Jack. He keeps telling me not to worry, too!"

"Well, he's right," she smirked and stood, "Kids have their own problems to worry about without adding others." They hugged and Jamie trotted off, waving as he went.

"Bye, Jo!" he called and was echoed by Sophie, "Bye, Abby!"

Abby wagged her tail and Joanna waved her hand until the car was out of sight. Then girl and dog looked at each other.

"Well," said the girl, "Come on, Abby-nathy! Let's clean house!"

_Piff!_ A snowball disintegrated against the side of her head; she recovered just enough of her wits to grab the dog again, who was growling at the tree in the yard. There was no one there that Joanna could see, and she knew what that meant.

"Okay, Jack," she smiled in a way that almost matched his own, "I know you're here, even without the dog."

"Oh, yeah?" Jack taunted, "Prove it!" He hit Abby with a snowball and she barked. Joanna shoved the dog back into the house and closed the door, all the while searching for Jack like a predator on the prowl. Suddenly a small spot on her cheek was chilled as a short gust whizzed past her. She yelped in surprise and touched her face, now pink.

"What the—? How did—?" She spun around, still looking. "Did you just _kiss_ me?"

"Wow, you guessed it," said Jack, "I'm impressed. Whoa!" He just barely avoided getting hit himself and stumbled off the porch. "Okay," he said in shock, "_Now_ I'm impressed."

"Told you so!" Joanna said gleefully, "I'm starting to sense your presence, I can ride your wind, _and…_" She slipped her feet out of her houseshoes and stepped right into the snow! "Look, Ma! No shoes!"

"You're kidding, right?" Jack raised an eyebrow. No human he'd ever seen could stand that for very long.

_'Ah,'_ his brain clicked, _'No __**human**__ you've ever seen.'_ That was just one more thing on his list of compelling evidence that Nanny Jo was his long-lost spirit friend from the Great Lakes.

"I'm still here, Jack," she said, bouncing a snowball in her hand, "And I'm still barefoot! Jamie tells me you do the same; must be fun!"

"Not as much fun as _this!_" Jack wound up like a pitcher and beaned her in the shoulder; she immediately returned fire, but he was too quick for her.

"You'll have to do better than that, Nanny Jo!" he crowed as he ran all over the yard, lobbing snowball after snowball at her. She chased him fruitlessly and kept missing him, but she still laughed as hard as he did. For a moment it seemed like they were back in the park in Green Bay—ten years apart but visible to each other, playing in the snow without a care in the world. He ducked as another one flew right over him and shook his head with a chuckle.

"You know, I'm disappointed," he teased with his staff slung across his shoulders, "I seem to recall you being a _much_ better shot than that."

A short tiny whoosh and a direct smack made him freeze in his tracks. It was just the small sound of a snowball, but to Jack and Joanna it was the Shot Heard 'Round the World.

Jack slowly half-turned with bits of snow falling off his back to see Joanna still bent in something of a baseball pose, reflecting his own shock on her face. She could see where she'd hit him and her eyes lit up.

"You hit me," he said as a smile spread slowly across his face.

"I just hit you," she started laughing like she couldn't believe it.

"That was amazing!" he got excited.

"I _totally_ just hit you!" she bubbled.

"I know! I've still got it on me!"

A mischievous gleam came to her eye. "And now I know exactly where to find you!"

"Uh-oh." After a brief deer-in-the-headlights look, Jack turned tail and ran for the tree, hastily brushing the snow off his back as Joanna went on the offensive.

"Oh, come on, Jack!" she laughed and climbed after him as nimbly as he did, "Don't run away! I can sense you now, remember?"

Jack shook his head; he'd been staring at her (again) and how fast she could move. If he hadn't known better, he'd have sworn they were twins separated at rebirth. She was squatting like a frog on the limb next to his with one leg dangling. Her eyes were warm and bright with fun and expectation. She was wearing brown capris and a midnight blue turtleneck with a ruffle around the bottom that fluttered like a skirt. It was kind of a mismatched outfit, but it somehow seemed to fit her perfectly.

"Jack?" she said weirdly when nothing happened. He tapped a branch over her head with his staff and it dumped snow on her. "Okay, I deserved that," she laughed. Jack perched next to her; this time she knew it because she felt the whoosh. She looked up.

"I can almost feel you," she said, "It feels colder where you are. Jamie thinks that maybe the reason I can't see you yet is because I'm an adult and would take longer."

"He's probably right," Jack sighed and leaned back on his hands with his staff behind him, "He usually is." He smiled as he thought of Jamie's bright eyes and quick mind, his loyalty, and his unwavering faith.

"Well," Jo said, "I've got to head inside and start cleaning the house. I'd invite you in…" She smirked. "But you probably don't wait for an invitation." She slipped backwards off the limb and swung herself down. Jack laid on his stomach and watched her go in.

"Sure sounded like one to _me_," he grinned and followed.

* * *

**Author's Review****:  
**In case there's any confusion, she can't hear him, either. They're just riding the same wavelength…sort of.

Normally my stories are chock-full of references to other things—movies, TV, books, etc. But this time, the only one I've got (for this chapter, at least) is the Hunger Games reference to the way Jo called the dog Abby-nathy. Props if you got it!

Is anyone reading this, btw? I tend to babble a lot.


	8. Peeping Jack

My inner muse is pleased with the Followings and Favorites and Reviews that have been happening (evil chuckle). I hope y'all enjoyed the snowball fest from the last chapter and I hope you'll also enjoy this one. It's gonna be fun!

Oh, I don't own any of the songs mentioned in this chapter; just thought I'd get that out of the way.

* * *

_"All we have to do is believe with all our might and he'll be okay!"_ – Tea, _Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series_, episode 58

* * *

**Chapter 7: Peeping Jack  
**"I'll tell you what, Jack," Joanna smiled as she closed the door after he whooshed in, "If you promise not to make a mess or torment the dog, I'll let you pick the housecleaning music."

"But I'm Jack Frost," he said, "I make a mess wherever I go!" Nevertheless, he made a checkmark float in the air.

"Thank you," she nodded satisfactorily, "I'm going to get my ipod and bandanna. You coming?"

"Wow," Jack joked as he followed her, "First I get believed in and now a beautiful girl is taking me upstairs. Things are looking up for me!"

Joanna hadn't decorated her room much since her arrival; the computer and TV were already there before. The only stuff she seemed to have brought with her were some clothes, her bed set, and whatever was in that green footlocker of hers. There was a dresser and a vanity desk, but she didn't have a lot of jewelry.

"Here you go," she said as she looked at the device, "It's an iPod Touch—" She gasped with surprise to feel herself walk right through Jack! She covered her mouth with horror; she knew from Jamie what it felt for Jack to have that happen.

"Jack, I'm sorry!" she spun around, "I didn't mean to!"

Jack gripped his hoodie over his heart breathlessly; that old pain was back in a way he never anticipated—it came from the one girl he was desperate to have see him. He knew it wasn't her fault and, from the look on her face, she understood what he was going through. Jamie must have told her.

He sat down on her bed so she could see he hadn't left and put his head in his hands. She knelt in front of him and tried to look in his eyes.

"Jack," she said more calmly, "I really am sorry. I'll try to be more careful."

What happened next was not so much a miracle as it was a mini-miracle.

Jack lifted his head up to look in her eyes; they were once again wide with shock and she was blushing to her roots. And was it him or had she stopped breathing?

"Jack," she whispered, "I think I can see you!"

As fate would have it, Abby chose that exact moment to come charging in, barking her head off. Joanna jumped slightly and turned her head to grab her. She immediately turned back just in time to watch Jack Frost jump backwards off the other side of the bed before he disappeared from her vision.

"Jack!" she panicked as she struggled with the dog, "Where are you? I swear I just saw you!"

Abby broke free and started chasing the unwelcome youth, snapping her jaws like she wanted to rip out his throat and use it as a chew toy. She had him treed in a corner of the ceiling.

"Uh, Jo?" he said, backing further in, "A little help here?"

"Stupid dog," Jo muttered with gritted teeth as she scrambled to her feet, "This way, Jack!" She jumped onto the window sill and shoved the window open to let him escape in a snowy gust. She could've sworn she heard him whisper "Thanks" as he passed her. Abby hung her forepaws over and finished barking at him. Jo shot her an irritable look and grabbed her collar.

"All right, Missy," she growled, "You and I are gonna have a little talk."

* * *

Housecleaning turned out not be as much fun without Jack to be her DJ. 38 years of searching and hoping and crying and traveling had all led up to her being here, where he was. And now the image of his face—his sad, lonely, eternally youthful face—was burned in her memory and set her cheeks back on fire.

It left her breathless to suddenly feel this way. She had only wanted to find Jack Frost so he could answer the questions of her identity; the _last_ thing she expected was to feel _attracted_ to him.

"Oh, who do you think you're kidding?" she said scathingly to herself, "This is Jack Frost we're talking about, for Heaven's sake! Spirit of Winter! Guardian of Fun! _Jamie's best friend!"_

She was done with the kitchen, so she started on the living room with the vacuum. Abby was in the rec room to keep her out of the way and her ipod was playing.

"He doesn't have that kind of time for you," she said quietly under the noise of the vacuum, "He's a Guardian."

_'Then stop thinking about him,'_ her inner voice challenged. She sighed and as she got into a rhythm, her mind wandered back to that moment. She'd seen him just as he was looking up at her and the look in his eyes had frozen her. Not only were they startlingly beautiful, but they held an untold wealth of emotions that had nearly knocked her over. They were icy blue and deep as the sea and Joanna felt she could quite easily (and gladly) drown in them.

"Stow it, girlfriend!" she shook her head, "You've got a job to do now. You have no business falling in love with Jack Frost."

_'And why not?'_ her inner voice turned indignant, _'Haven't you been lonely all these years, just like he has?'_

"Pfft, yeah," she scoffed, "38 years compared to 300—how _did_ I survive?"

_'I didn't say you were __**as**__ lonely as he was,'_ said the voice, _'Of __**course**__ it was worse for him…but you were both lonely in your own ways.'_

She turned off the vacuum.

"I guess we were," she murmured. She closed her eyes and saw his again. "All he wants is to be seen." At the same time, her ipod was singing, _"So lonely inside, so busy out there, and all you wanted was somebody who cares."_

"Ok, that is totally not helping." She strode over and skipped from Michelle Branch to Landon Pigg, but he was singing "Falling in Love at A Coffee Shop," so she skipped again only to hear Savage Garden's "I Want You!"

"Argh!" she exclaimed, "My ipod is against me!" Finally she landed on The Go-Gos, cranked it up, and danced her way through the rest of the room. Outside the window, Jack Frost was watching and laughing, and not just because of how cute she was just now.

For one brief second, she'd seen him. It tickled him almost as much as it had with Jamie and he couldn't help but laugh happily and call down a fresh snowfall.

* * *

_How 'bout getting off  
__of these antibiotics?_

After cleaning the house and walking the dog, Joanna rewarded herself with a steaming hot shower. The kids would get out of school in one hour and she was planning to start dinner right after picking them up, so she wanted to clean all the sweat and chemicals off. She was listening to her ipod again and singing along…loudly.

_How 'bout stopping eating  
when I'm full up?_

The song didn't make a whole lot of sense, but she still enjoyed it, especially since no one was home to hear her (that she knew of).

_How 'bout them  
transparent dangling carrots?_

Case in point, she thought with a smirk.

_How 'bout that  
ever-elusive kudo?_

She finally came out in a towel robe, drying her hair with a towel, and plugged her ipod into her little boombox. Suddenly a quick wind whooshed underneath her and she slapped her hands on her knees with a yelp from surprise, rather than the cold. Then she looked up at the window and saw that she'd forgotten to lock it!

_"Jack Frost!"_ She clutched her robe and spun around with sizzling red cheeks. "Are you in here?" A tiny cold spot planted itself on her cheek. "Eek! Cut that out! Maybe I can't see _you_, but I can _clearly_ see we're gonna have to have a system! I don't imagine a locked window would stop you…"

"There's not a lock in the _world_ that can keep _me_ out, sweetheart," Jack smiled cockily.

"But if my window _is_ locked and the curtains are closed," she finished, "that means I'm either not home or not receiving visitors, meaning you. Wow," she paused, "I've never barred my way to a guy before…probably because I've never hung out with any guys before. (…) Anyway, you can see I'm not decent, so will you please wait outside until I am?"

"Hey!" Jack shrugged defensively, "I'm a prankster, not a pervert!" Still, he couldn't resist flipping her hair with his staff on his way out. She smiled, her blush reduced to a sheepish pink.

"For someone who doesn't have time for me," she said as she closed the curtains, "he sure likes to hang around."

* * *

"Okay, Jo! My homework's all done!" Jamie called as he came running downstairs, "Will you tell me now?"

Joanna looked up with a smile from the floor, where she was playing with Sophie while dinner was cooking in the oven. When she picked them up from school, she'd promised to tell Jamie all about her interesting day with Jack Frost on the condition that he finish his homework first. Not that he needed bribery; Jamie was one of the best students in his class and always did his homework, but he liked the extra incentive.

"Tell me everything!" he said as he knelt beside her, "Did you see him this time? Did you talk to him? Did you get to play outside with him?"

"Slow down, man!" he laughed, "I actually did have a snowball fight with him, even though I couldn't see him. Know what happened? I hit him!"

"No way!" Jamie dropped his jaw, "You hit Jack Frost with a snowball? And you didn't even _see_ him?"

"I know, right?" she said, "It was incredible! And I could see the snow on his back from where it hit him!" Jamie jumped to his feet.

"You're the coolest nanny _ever!_" he gushed, "No one's ever hit Jack Frost 'cause no one can catch him! I wish I could've seen the look on his face!"

"Me, too!" she said. She loved how easy it was to get caught up in this boy's enthusiasm. "And speaking of his face…" Jamie immediately dropped to his stomach like she was and got in close.

"You _did_ see him, didn't you?" he said with quiet wonder.

"It was only for a minute," she said a bit sadly, "and it was after our snowball fight. I think I accidentally walked through him and it made him sad."

"How could you tell?" the boy asked. She hesitated.

"Because I felt it," she answered.

"How?" he repeated, shock creeping into his awestruck eyes.

"I can't explain it," she shook her head, "Not now, anyway. But I did…and then I saw him."

"How did he look?" he asked. She looked the child in the eyes after a moment.

"He looked very sad," she said quietly, "and very lonely." The light dimmed a bit in Jamie's eyes.

"I know," he replied, "I've seen him like that before. Sometimes he tells me about what it was like before anyone could see him…and he starts to look sad." His face hardened with determination. "That's why I promised myself I'd always believe in him and the other Guardians. I always want to see him so he'll never be sad again." Joanna touched his head.

"You're something special, Jamie," she said humbly, "I've never seen a kid with a heart like yours. No wonder the Guardians fought so hard to protect you."

"Not just me," he said, "They fight for _every_ kid who believes in them."

"That they do," she smiled, "and kids like you are definitely worth fighting for."

A car pulled into the driveway; Jo and Jamie got up to see who it was.

"Mom's home!" the boy exclaimed, "Hey, Sophie! Mom's home!"

"Mommy!" Sophie cried out joyfully and jumped up to follow her brother. Abby rushed past her, making her stumble, but Jo caught her just in time.

"You okay, Sophie?" she said kindly. The small girl giggled and trotted off. Jo giggled herself.

"She's so cute," she smiled and turned, "I'd better get that roast out of the oven."

* * *

Jack had to wait a little longer than usual to hang out with Jamie tonight. He was having a long talk with his mother; she looked tired and sad. It must have been hard enough just to raise two kids, but now she had extra work to do and didn't get to spend as much time with them.

"Was it like that for you, Mom?" he murmured, reflecting on his own memories.

He remembered a lot more now, sometimes more than he wanted to. His father had died of an illness made worse by pushing himself too hard in his work when Jack was about Jamie's age. He'd never noticed how difficult it must have been for his mom to take care of him and his sister.

He sighed with his eyes closed and leaned on the house, feeling a sudden and intense longing for his mother's arms. Maybe he should go see the Tooth Fairy again; it wasn't the same, but she did have a sort of motherly way about her that Jack found comforting.

The light in the room went out and after counting to ten Mississippis, Jack crept in and happily greeted Jamie with a hug and a noogie.

"Ha, ha! Come on, Jack! Cut it out!" the boy laughed and squirmed out of his hold and hopped into bed. Jack hopped up as well and perched on the footboard.

"So how was your day, squirt?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, it was fine," Jamie bounced over, "But forget _my_ day! How was _yours?_ Joanna told me all about the snowball fight and how she saw you for like a split second!"

"She told you all that, did she?" Jack chuckled sheepishly, "What else did she tell you?"

"She told me she accidentally walked through you," Jamie looked sympathetic, "Are you okay?"

Jack sighed. He hated to see Jamie sad at all; he didn't want him worrying about him, too.

"I'm fine," he smiled and willed him to do the same, "She apologized even though it wasn't really her fault. Besides, she still saw me, so it was worth it."

There it was; that smile Jack loved was back on the boy's face.

"I think you should go see her," he spoke up, "Maybe if you're there long enough, she'll see you for good this time!"

"Maybe later," said Jack, "Tell me about your mom. How is she?" Jamie turned around and flopped down to look up at him.

"She seems fine," he said, "but I think she's kinda tired from work and all."

"I'm sorry." Jack reached down and stroked the boy's hair. "It must be hard on all of you."

"It is kinda weird not having her around all the time," Jamie confided, "but I'll be fine. She said it won't be forever, and I've got you and Joanna to play with in the meantime." He yawned. "Mom will be okay. We all will." He crawled over to his pillow and laid down with his stuffed bunny. "Are you gonna talk to Jo?"

"Yeah," Jack said as he tucked him in. He knelt by the bedside and they looked at each other for a moment. Then Jack touched the boy's blanketed shoulder. "I'll always look after you, Jamie. You know that, right?"

"Mm-hmm," he nodded and laid his small warm hand over Jack's cold one. "I'll always look after you, too."

Jack smiled without arguing (as he sometimes did) that it was his job to look after Jamie and not the other way around. The Sandman's dust swirled in a glittering ribbon above the boy's head and he was out in seconds. Before departing the room, he looked at the door, where Jamie's mother had been only minutes before.

_'Who will look after __**her**__?'_ he wondered.

* * *

**Author's Review****:  
**That bit about Mom was me experimenting with a sub-plot; I'm still not sure if it'll come to fruition or not. I'm focusing more on Jack and Joanna and stuff like that. So enjoy it, but don't quite file it away yet.

That song I used in her shower is one of a few songs I love to listen to when I'm showering myself! I love singing it at the top of my lungs! It's awesome! DISCUSSION TOPIC! What do y'all listen to in the shower?

And don't worry; Joanna didn't hurt the dog. She actually did give her a talking-to and stuck her in the rec room as half-punishment, half-keeping-out-of-the-way.

Okay, I used Alanis Morrissette, Michelle Branch, Landon Pigg, Savage Garden, and The Go-Gos. That song was actually "Vacation," but for some reason I didn't put it in there.

Please don't form an angry mob for what I did to them with the dog; I just love to have those jerk-around moments! They're fun!

Next chapter will be some major fangirl service as well as some question-answering. I hope you look forward to it!


	9. Winter's Embrace

**WARNING****:**This chapter may cause inordinate amounts of squeeing and/or vomiting (depending on your personal Sap Meter). If you or someone you love is experiencing either of these symptoms, smack them upside the head and give them something with chocolate in it. If symptoms persist, you might want to pull the plug out of the wall. LOL

Oh, and this involves a Colbie Caillat song that I love, but another good song for this chapter would be "Close Your Eyes" by Michael Buble. Woot! Or just listen to both!

* * *

_"Alone I stare into the frost's white face."_ – Osip Mandelstam

* * *

**Chapter 8: Winter's Embrace  
**_You're stuck on me and my laughing eyes  
__I can't pretend, though I try to hide  
__I like you_

Joanna smiled wryly; her ipod was against her yet again.

"I give up," she shrugged.

_I like you_

She bobbed on each foot in a sort of dance to the slow bounce of the song.

_I think I felt my heart skip a beat  
I'm standing here and I can hardly breathe  
You got me, yeah  
You got me_

The funny thing about this song was that it was one of the few songs she knew that made her feel girliest. It put bubbles in her stomach that made her feet feel lighter than air.

_The way you take my hand  
is just so sweet_

She danced her way through a quick pick-up of today's clothes and playfully tossed them in her hamper.

_And that crooked smile of yours,  
it knocks me off my feet!_

She tried to imagine what Jack's smile would look like and it made her turn red and giggle like a fangirl! She threw the curtains open and smiled up at the moon in its full-rounded glory.

"Let's dance, Moon Man!" she chimed and twirled to the chorus.

_Oh, I just can't get enough  
How much do I need to fill me up?_

Joanna was singing along and dancing with her eyes closed, so she didn't see the thin layer of frost spiraling closer to her feet with every turn.

_"It feels so good, it must be LAAAH!"_ she shrieked as her foot slipped, flew, and swung her body almost completely upside down in a decidedly ungraceful and humorous manner. She landed in a small snowdrift with her foot still in the air and she swore she could hear the mischievous laughter of the Guardian of Fun.

"All right," she said flatly, "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough, my friend!" Jack laughed as he pushed the Save button on his Guardian edition iphone. "Oh, man, that was priceless!" He waved the snow away with his staff and picked her back up with a wind swirl.

"Thanks," she said, still embarrassed as she straightened her nightgown, "You might have warned me or something."

"And missed that golden opportunity?" he raised an amused eyebrow, "Not a chance!" He flicked his staff and made a dancing snow couple.

"You want to dance with me?" she guessed. A checkmark appeared and she beamed. "All right, then." She curtsied. "Lead on!"

This time she braced herself for the slippery ice and frost as their commander maneuvered them to make her dance like an Olympic skater. Once she got used to it, she was actually quite a graceful dancer. Jack remembered the way she used to hop around in the snow like a bird, how they would dance in the snowflakes together. Seeing her this happy again made his heart glow, but seeing the beautiful woman she'd become made his heart burn with an intensity that was alien to him in every way that mattered. Ever watchful, the moon touched him with its light and whispered to him that the time was now. His eyes lit up with joy and he turned for one moment to offer breathless gratitude before making his move.

_Close your eyes_, he wrote on the floor in beautiful curves and curls. Jo raised an eyebrow; she liked to think she would've Maced any other guy under normal circumstances. But since this wasn't the case, she complied. She wasn't quite sure what he was going to do, but she knew she could trust him more than anyone.

She stopped breathing for a second with the distinct feeling she was being kissed again, except this time the familiar cool spot was pressing against her lips. Her eyes nearly popped back open as she realized she was sharing a kiss with Jack Frost!

She happily kissed him back, feeling rather than seeing the snow swirling around her, dancing to the rest of the song as it combined with the moonlight to make him materialize like a winter pixie. Once he knew she could feel him physically, he finally and gently broke the kiss. Joanna opened her wide eyes and smiled a deep blush. Her hands trembled as she slowly and tentatively touched Jack's face.

It was even more beautiful now, with his hair burning in a silver blaze, his pale skin bordered with the soft light of the moon, and his eyes—those bright, breathtaking eyes—were shining with happiness. It was a drastic change from his sad and lonely expression from this afternoon and Joanna loved it so much she could've died.

"There you are," she said breathlessly, "Sorry I took so long."

"Forget about it," he shook his head, "You were worth the wait."

_'Hot __**dang**__, he's got a sexy voice!'_ she thought. Her hands slipped to his neck.

"We've got a lot to talk about, you and I," she said.

"Yeah," he smiled charmingly, "but if you don't mind…" He tipped her chin to watch the silver creep into the honey in her eyes. "I don't feel much like talking just now."

"Me, neither," she said softly, letting his eyes draw her in as she snaked her arms around his neck. He held his left arm around her waist with his staff in his hand and his right one behind her back. He held her tight and kissed her good, and though his body was as cold as ice, Joanna virtually melted in his arms.

* * *

They stood there for a while after their make-out with Jo's head nestled comfortably in Jack's neck.

"So," he spoke first, "Any questions?" Jo chuckled shortly.

"Only a million," she said wryly, "starting with this."

She reached in her nightgown and pulled out a beautiful silver chain on which was hanging a perfect snowflake—_his_ snowflake, crafted by his own hand 48 years ago for a little girl crying in the snow.

"I'll say it first," she said as Jack held it preciously in his hand, "Where did I get this?" Jack closed a gentle fist around the charm with what looked like a painful face, but when he looked at her again, he looked ready to cry with happiness.

"I knew it," he smiled emotionally and touched her face, "I knew it was you!"

"Then you _do_ know me," she blinked, bewildered by this sudden overflow of sentiment. Jack gave a short burst of excited laughter, threw his arms around her, spun around and tossed her up as effortlessly as he had all those years ago.

"Um, Jack," she chuckled awkwardly, "I'm really happy that you're happy, but do you mind cluing me in?"

"You were just a kid," he told her, "A small, lonely, adorable little kid. You were being chased around by bullies and I—I saved you and then your dad came and—"

"My dad?!" she repeated and grabbed him, "I have a _father?_ Do I have a mom, too?" It was interesting to Jack to find himself on the receiving end of an identity crisis.

"Yeah, you do," he nodded, "Or—or you did. I'm not sure which. I never spoke to her, though. I couldn't stand to be around her—physically, I mean."

"What do you mean?" she asked, "That makes no sense whatsoever."

"You're right, you're right," Jacked waved his hand, "I'm going too fast, I'm sorry." He grabbed her hand and swung her and himself to the window.

"See," he started, "the reason I said that is because your parents were…well, uh…they were wind spirits."

Something in Joanna's brain made a record scratch sound effect.

"Wind spirits," she repeated blankly.

"Look, I know what you're thinking," Jack said as he perched on the window sill, "and believe me, I know it sounds crazy…but it's the truth. Your mom was a warm southern wind that normally hangs around the Tex-Mex areas. She was hot, and I don't mean as in sexy mama hot. She was hot in a way that would've actually hurt me."

"No way," she breathed and leaned back to digest it, "What about my dad?" Jack chuckled with his crooked smile before answering, like there was some inside joke involved.

"Your dad," he said a bit ruefully, "was a Canadian cold front that always hung out on the Great Lakes on that side."

"I take it you didn't get along," Jo guessed.

"Well…" he squirmed a bit, not wanting to paint a bad picture of the father she couldn't remember, "You got to understand, we were two totally different kinds of cold. I'm the fun Christmas Vacation kind and he's more like the sub-zero, Mr. Freeze kind. I never stuck around too long before he'd show up and run me off. It's not all his fault, though; my presence there was a bit of a scale tipper. It would've messed up the work he and your mom always did on the Lakes."

"What work?" she asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged, "Like I said, I was never there long enough to find out. It was probably pretty important."

"Yeah," she nodded, "What about me? Where do I fit in all this?"

"To tell the truth," he sighed and slipped his feet to the floor, "I never did figure that out. I mean I know you're their kid…but that's all I know. I don't know if you had a job to do as a wind spirit, I don't know which one of them you stayed with the most, I don't even know where you lived. All I know for sure is that when I met you, you were all by yourself, trying to make friends. You were cute and you were lonely." He half-smiled thoughtfully at her. "That's pretty much where we started."

"So you knew me when I was just a little girl," she mused in awe, "When was that?"

"We met in the winter of '65, up in Minnesota," he answered, "You weren't much older than Jamie."

"Man, you really _are_ old," she teased.

"Oh, thanks a lot, Nanny Jo!" he responded as they laughed, "You're no spring chicken yourself, you know!"

"I know," she said, "After the moon changed me, I didn't know anything, so I went to a doctor to get myself checked out. I told him I had amnesia, which was pretty much true, and he figured out my age. I was eighteen and it was '75, so in '65 I was eight, which means I must've been born in…" She counted off on her fingers. "Whoa. 1957."

"Which makes you exactly 56 years old," said Jack, "That's practically a baby on my scale."

"Which makes _you_ a creepy old grandpa!" she teased again.

"What can I say?" he shrugged and hooked her with his staff, "I like the young people." He wrapped his arm around her.

"I don't suppose you know what my connection is to the _Edmund Fitzgerald_," she ventured.

"No," he shook his head against hers, "I used to visit you every winter up until '68. I don't know why, but that year your dad put his foot down and ran me off for the last time." He tightened his hold. "I never saw you again." Joanna hugged him back.

"I bet I cried," she said sadly.

"We both did," he confessed, "Pretty hard, too. You were the only friend I had back then. To have you taken away terrified me." He turned his face into her head. "And now you're back." She smiled.

"The fun part is," she said, "I'm not the only one you've got anymore. There's Jamie and Sophie and the Guardians."

"Yeah," he said, "Wait a minute. Guardians!" He jumped up. "That's it! Did Jamie tell you about the Tooth Fairy?"

"Not much," she blinked, "Why?"

"You know how she collects teeth?" he asked. When she nodded, he continued. "The reason she does that is because they contain a child's memories. She takes the teeth to protect them so they can remember what's important. She has everyone's teeth, including mine. I'll just bet she's got yours, too."

"But if she's a Guardian, doesn't she only do that for human children?" she said, "Would she have the teeth of a spirit child?"

"She told me _all_ the children of the world," he shrugged, "It's worth looking into, at least."

"And if she does," she lit up, "then I'll remember my past, right?"

"I did." Joanna stared up at him for a minute, then jumped up into his arms.

"Thank you, Jack," she said gratefully, "I've waited so long for this. I know it's not even close to how long you waited, but I'm still so glad I finally found you!" Jack closed his eyes as he held her; it was different from the way he held Jamie or Sophie, but it was no less humbling.

* * *

**Author's Review****:  
**I had a couple of different scenarios for Jack's discovery of the snowflake necklace. One was where she still couldn't see him and he found it on her vanity desk, snatched it up and got emotional like he does and was all like "Where did you get this?" And of course, she doesn't answer because she doesn't know he's there. Another was the same, only she DOES see him and she gets all confused and is all like "I was going to ask you the same thing," or "I was hoping you could tell me," or something like that. None of them took, though; but I think this one worked just as well!

I'm willing to bet money most of you got out your calculators on the age part! LOL I promise I did my math right! That's the first time I've ever done math in a story! Woot!

Oh, I accidentally put in a line from a Mandy Moore song in one of Jack's lines! First one to guess it wins! (…) I don't know what, but you'll win! I don't really have any prizes to offer, other than an honorable mention in the chapter heading.

Next chapter is essentially a filler chapter, but it involves the Easter Bunny, so all you Bunny fans might want to stay tuned!


	10. Bloke Talk

This is pretty much a filler chapter, but it's a giant warm fuzzy starring OUR favorite giant warm fuzzy, the Easter Bunny!

It also involves stuff that is specifically a Pinspiration! I think you'll like it! And this is where the Twilight jokes start kicking in!

* * *

_"When I look at you, my brain goes all stupid...and I've never felt this way and I think we should be together."_ – Finn the Human, _Adventure Time_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Bloke Talk  
**Jack had actually been on top of the world more times than he could count but as he hopped over downtown Burgess later that night, he _really_ felt on top of the world. Wires froze and streetlamps were painted in patterns as he carelessly swung his staff this way and that. He'd found his friend again! She was beautiful, funny, warm, loving, and not a bad kisser for someone with no social life. He perched on a gargoyle.

_'Dude,'_ he realized, _'You just made out with someone you knew as a __**little—girl.**__ Isn't that just a little bit on the weird side?'_

"Nope!" he chirped and hopped to the next gargoyle, "I wasn't attracted to her as a little—girl. She's all grown up now."

_'Just as long as you know that,'_ his conscience said.

"Yeah, yeah," he rolled his eyes and looked up. The first few strands of dream dust were coiling their way into children's bedrooms. Jack took a peek into the nearest one and watched a one-year-old sink happily into the security of her dreams. He smiled.

"What do you dream about at your age?" he wondered out loud. He pushed off from the building and flew up to the clock tower in the middle of town and swung around the spire. A nice brisk breeze was blowing and he breathed it in.

Suddenly something flitted across the rooftops below.

Something fast.

Something dark.

With his face set, Jack swooped down in pursuit, tightening his grip on his staff as he slipped into Guardian Mode. It had only been a year, he thought; Pitch wasn't really strong enough or dumb enough to try and make another move _this _soon, was he?

The Guardian hit his feet and scurried to the entrance of an alleyway, where the shape had gone. His staff glowed blue.

"All right, who's in there?" he called, "Show yourself!" A familiar chuckle was the reply.

"Is that supposed to be your Guardian voice?" said the Easter Bunny as he came out, "You sound like a rookie Blue Heeler."

"Give me a break, Bunny," Jack relaxed, "I'm still new at this." Bunny chuckled again and started hopping up. Jack followed him to the top of a building that gave a good view of Jamie's neighborhood. Bunny stretched a bit but stopped when he got a good look at the boy's face under the moon.

"What?" Jack said weirdly.

"Follow the boomerang," Bunny instructed and wielded one of his weapons.

"Do what?" Jack blinked.

"Follow—the boomerang," he repeated slowly. Still weirded out, Jack watched the tip as it moved in several different directions with the rabbit's eyes focusing on him all the while.

Finally Jack asked, "Is there a point to this?" The tip stopped at his nose and Bunny smiled in a way that always preceded merciless teasing, a way that made Jack nervous.

"Ah, ha-ha-ha-ha," he chuckled evilly, "I never would've believed it." He put his boomerang away. "All right," he asked, "Who's the Sheila?"

"Sheila?" Jack repeated, confused.

"The _girl_, mate," Bunny clarified, still smiling, "Who's the girl?"

"Wait a—Hold o—Are you _kidding_ me?" Jack sputtered and backed up in a panic, "What makes you think there's a girl? Where'd that even _come_ from?"

"Don't try to hide it from me, frostbite," said Bunny as he leaned back on the cement railing, "You're talking to the Easter Bunny! The Spring King! There's a million just like you every year, especially, _my_ time of the year."

"What are you talking about?" Jack said, exasperated.

"Spring, mate," said Bunny, "The time when everything blossoms and comes to life, a time for color and beauty—"

"And allergies," Jack muttered.

"Aye," he said, "including the biggest allergy of all: Love."

Jack nearly slipped on his own frost and started choking on dust he hadn't been aware of.

"I'm sorry, man," he laughed and stuck his pinky in his ear, "I must've had an icicle wedged in my ear. For a second there, I thought you said the L-word."

"I did," Bunny smirked, "and you just made me think of a D-word: _Denial._"

"Cut it out, will ya?" Jack frowned, "Anyway, what do you mean there's a million like me?"

"I see 'em every spring," said Bunny, "Young blokes with the same look, blokes who've gone over the moon for a pretty face. Now, all kidding aside: Whose face has got you hoppin'?" Jack sighed and leaned back next to him with his arms and ankles crossed around his staff. He and Bunny had bonded as fellow Guardians in the nightmare battle, but he didn't feel quite as intimate with him as he did with the others, especially North. Still, though, it couldn't hurt to try.

"Remember that nanny I was telling you about?" he started.

"Ahh," Bunny smiled with his ears perking up, "Pretty young thing, is she?"

"_**I **_think so," Jack shrugged sheepishly and shifted his feet.

"Is she takin' good care of our little ankle-biter?" Bunny asked seriously.

"Oh, yeah," Jack nodded, "You should see how she is with them. She's amazing. She doesn't just keep those kids happy; she _makes_ them happy. She keeps the house good and clean, too. And she cooks. Considering what that family's going through right now, she's about the best thing that could've happened for them."

"But what about you?" he asked, "I mean…does she see you?"

"Why do you think I've been hopping all over town?" Jack grinned.

"Crikey," he looked surprised, "Didn't take long at all, did she?"

"Nope," Jack smiled brightly as he stretched, "She sees me, hears me…" He cracked his knuckles and cocked an eyebrow. "Feels me."

"Okay, that's more than I wanted to hear," Bunny cringed, "So what, now you're creeping into her window at night like a bloody vampire?"

"Yeah, Bunny," he said sarcastically, "I nip at her nose and suck her blood and watch her while she sleeps." He backflipped onto the railing and perched there, facing the town. Bunny noticed he now had a brooding kind of look. He hopped up beside him.

"You've never felt this way before, have you, Jack?" he asked gently. Jack just shook his head. "In 300 years, you've never fallen for a single Sheila?"

"I never thought to look," Jack confided lowly, "I figured, what's the point if no one even sees me? Now I've got Jamie and so many other kids who do, but…it never occurred to me that there was a difference between holding a kid…and holding a girl. A _woman_ no older than me. I just…it was…I didn't know I could feel that way."

"Most of 'em don't," Bunny replied.

"The fun part is," he continued, "I don't have to worry about the age thing."

"What d'you mean?"

"She's immortal, like us," Jack smiled excitedly, "She's been eighteen since the 1970s!"

"Immortal?" the shocked rabbit repeated, "Are you serious?"

"That's not even the half of it," said Jack, "How long have you got?"

"Long enough," Bunny said and got comfy, "Lay it on me, mate."

* * *

"I saw the Easter Bunny last night."

It was the next morning, right after the Bennetts had gone to work, school, and pre-school. Jack was playing around with Joanna's ipod, Joanna was making her bed, and Abby was lying in the doorway with an eye on the strange white-haired boy that, though more familiar now, was still too flighty for her comfort.

"At this time of year?" she said as she whipped out a sheet.

"Yeah, he likes to check in on me sometimes," he said, "but between you and me, he's got a soft spot for Sophie."

"Aw, that's cute!" she beamed, "That explains why she loves to hop around a lot."

"Yeah," he smiled back, "I told him about you."

"Oh, yeah?" she said as she put on the blanket, "What'd he say?"

"I believe he used the phrase 'Holy dooly,'" he explained, making her laugh.

"He sounds like fun!"

"He's all right," he shrugged, "A little high strung, but not too bad a guy."

Jo smoothed her pillow down and took a small book from under it.

"So you're a bookworm, too," Jack observed over her shoulder, "What's that?"

"_Great Expectations_," she answered with a fond smile at the brown book.

"Ahh, Charlie," he said when she handed it to him, "Now _there_ was a fun guy."

"You _saw_ Charles Dickens?" she popped.

"Heck, yeah," he said, "I used to watch him write. I was there when he wrote _A Christmas Carol_." Her wide eyes sparkled and her cheeks turned pink.

"I am _so_ geeking out right now," she said, "I've got to show you this!"

She skipped to the footboard of her bed; there was a drawer handle that she pulled to open a drawer running the length of the bed that was full of books!

"Wow." Now it was Jack's turn to go wide-eyed. "That's a _lot_ of books."

"Mm-hmm," she nodded proudly as Jack knelt down, "Stuff comes and stuff goes, but a girl's got to read."

"No kidding," he murmured as he skimmed through titles and authors, "Agatha Christie…A Little Princess…Jane Austen—she was actually before my time, believe it or not…Herman Melville…Hemingway—now _that_ guy had issues…Sherlock, Walden…Ha, ha! Harry Potter!"

"Of course!"

"Ooh, Dracula. Frankenstein—okay, you want to hear a story about Frankenstein?"

"He's not real _too_, is he?" she looked creeped out.

"No, no," he chuckled, "You know how Mary Shelley wrote it because of a nightmare she had? The Sandman told me he saw Pitch give her that nightmare!"

"No way!" she exclaimed, "Seriously?"

"Seriously," he nodded, "That's what he told me, anyway." He turned back to the books and picked one up. "Twilight? Really?"

"That was a gift!" her cheeks sizzled as she whipped it out of his hand, "I took care of a family last year that had a thirteen-year-old girl. She was really sad when I left, so she gave me this as a going-away present. It was her favorite series."

"Right," he smiled teasingly, "You still read it, though, didn't you?" Her face went flat and stayed red and she glanced to the side in embarrassment.

"I was curious," she muttered. Jack laughed.

"You've still got that blush," he observed, "You used to pout like that all the time."

"When I was little?"

"Yeah," he smiled nostalgically, "And every time you did, I'd practically trip over myself trying to make you smile again."

"Did it work?" she asked.

"Oh, every time," he said, "I'm Jack Frost! I'm good at making kids smile!"

"You're not too bad at making _nannies_ smile, either," she half-grinned.

"If you've got the time, I could make you smile even more," Jack said as he stood and blew the window open with his staff. Jo took his offered hand.

"You're gonna take me on a date?" she said, "Hang on, let me lock up the house so Abby doesn't get out."

Minutes later the two were being blown away on the winter wind towards Jack's pond holding hands because Joanna was a bit out of practice.

"Don't worry," said Jack, "We'll get you caught up in no time. Wouldn't want to have to carry you everywhere piggyback, now would we?"

"No, we wouldn't," she replied wryly, "I'd have to call you Edward and I think too highly of you for that." He laughed.

"Let's test your footwork!" he suggest as they zoomed in, "Hang on tight, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

She stumbled a bit at first, but Jack kept a hand on her back and helped her into the groove. Soon enough, she fell into almost perfect step with him.

"Good job," he said as they stopped at a tree, "Now follow me!"

She shot up the tree a split second after him; the pair of them scurried up and around each other like squirrels and leapt and climbed like monkeys. When Jack broke through the leaves at the top, Joanna was half a step behind him.

"_Very_ nice," he said appreciatively.

"I'd like to see Bella Swan do _that_ in the first book," she said rather smugly, "I wonder if anyone can see me when I'm with you."

"I can," Jack said softly. She caught his tone and glanced at him.

"I guess that's what counts," she said shyly. Jack took her hand.

"Listen," he said, "After we're done here, I'm gonna talk to the Tooth Fairy and see if we can set up a meeting."

"Thank you," she sighed happily and squeezed his hand, "You know…the more I see of you, the less of your cold I can feel. I wonder what that means."

"Maybe there's another reason the moon told you to find me," he said. She blushed again.

"You think so?" she mumbled.

"Yeah." He pulled her closer. "I mean you ride the wind, you don't freeze up, I don't seem to be able to chill you."

"Wasn't I like that as a kid?" she asked.

"If memory serves, yeah," he answered, "I just thought, maybe…"

"Yeah," she smiled a bit, "Me, too."

For the moment, that was all that needed to be said.

* * *

**Author's Review****:  
**I just recently found a picture on Pinterest of a bed with a drawer underneath it exactly like the one in the chapter (I found it after I wrote it in—HA!) only it comes out the side instead of the end, which is probably better. Dang, I wish my house looked like Pinterest! LOL

Okay, for anyone who is not familiar with Aussie slang (or has never eaten at Outback Steakhouse) here's a list of the terms Bunny used in this chapter with their meanings as I've discovered them on the internet:

_**Blue Heeler**_ – Police officer. It's as simple as that.

_**Sheila**_ – Girl. Duh. I discovered that one on the ladies bathroom door at the Outback Steakhouse (pumpernickel bread FTW!)

_**Bloke**_ – Boy. Again, duh. That one's on the guys bathroom door!

_**Holy dooly**_ – An expression of shock, like saying "Holy crap!" One of my personal favorites is "Sweet fancy Moses!" What do y'all like to say?

Oh, that story about Mary Shelley having a nightmare and turning that into Frankenstein? That's actually true! She and her husband (Percy Shelley) were visiting some friends and they were having a horror story contest. One night she had a nightmare that she saw someone bending over a table and a human rose up from it and it freaked her out! Lo and behold, it became one of the greatest classic books of all time!

I've never actually read most of the books she has. I've read A Little Princess, Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, a couple of Sherlock stories, Dracula, Frankenstein, and yes, Twilight.

Twilight fans, please don't misunderstand and/or flame me. It's a well-known philosophy to only make fun of the stuff you love and I loved the Twilight books (it's the movies I hated). I'll be doing a lot of these jokes throughout the story and if we're honest, Jack kinda has 'em coming! But we'll save that lecture for another day.

See you later!


	11. Joanna Believes in Fairies

Sorry I took so long; I've been handwriting the later chapters and I hit a bit of a writer's block for a couple of days. I always try not to let the uploads catch up to the notebooks.

Well, we've already seen the Easter Bunny; now it's time to introduce Joanna to…THE TOOTH FAIRY! MWAHAHAHA!

I think you're gonna like this chapter; fanboys, put your helmets on!

I don't own the song I'm using here; it's owned and sung by the incomparable Josh Groban!

* * *

_"I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!"_ – Everybody from _Peter Pan_ (the live-action one)

* * *

**Chapter 10: Joanna Believes in Fairies**  
The instant the bell rang for recess, Jamie bee-lined it for his special place near the bushes where he and Jack always liked to hang out and play. He wasn't surprised not to find him; Jack _loved_ to pop out and surprise him, and he was certainly in for one today!

"Ah-HA!" he spun around when the snowball hit his back, but he dropped his jaw to not only see Jack perched atop his staff, but his own nanny leaning against it! His eyes widened even further when he saw her hold one of her hands back palm-up and got fived and fist bumped by Jack!

"Joanna!" he exclaimed with somewhat subdued excitement so as not to alert the teachers. He ran over to hug them. "You can see him!"

Not since discovering the existence of the Guardians had Jamie felt such triumph, such satisfied joy of confirmed beliefs, and he hugged his dear friends tightly around their necks. This was the kind of group hug Jack had ached for ever since Jo's arrival; it affected him on a deeper level than anyone understood and he hadn't expected to feel it quite this soon.

"I can't believe it really worked!" Jamie smiled brightly as he pulled back, "I mean I hoped it would, but…but it worked!"

"You were right all along, Jamie," Jo chimed, "Thanks for your help."

"This is _so cool_," he said, "We can all hang out together and have fun! Jo, you're the first grown-up ever to see Jack Frost!"

"I know!" she piped.

"So, Jack," he turned to him, "Is she the same kid you met?"

"You bet she is," Jack smiled, "Check it out—bare feet!" Jo held up a foot and wiggled her toes.

"You're just like Jack!" Jamie said, "Can you make snow, too?"

"No," she smiled mischievously, "but I can make snowballs!"

Jamie laughed and ran backwards as the threesome began a snowball fight that his neighborhood friends quickly joined in and escalated into an elaborate roleplay wherein Jo and Jamie were warriors working with Cupcake to rescue the Snow Princess. Jo was hit in the back by a stray snowball.

"Aah!" she cried out in fake pain and fell over on her back.

"Joanna, no!" cried Jamie as he slid to his knees beside her, "Hang in there, Jo! The snow doctor's on his way!"

"I don't think I'll make it, Jamie," she said dramatically, "I'm done for…but I managed to get the key to the snow prison." She stuffed some snow in his hand. "You'll have to rescue the princess…without me." She released a death rattle and went limp.

"Noooooo!" Cupcake shouted, "When we have rescued the Snow Princess, this warrior's death will be avenged on all your heads! Yaaah!"

Just then the bell rang and the other kids scurried off.

"I'll see you guys later, all right?" said Jamie.

"I've actually got an errand to run," said Jack, "but I'll definitely see you tonight."

"Okay," the boy nodded and hugged them again, "See you, guys!"

Joanna waved as he ran off, then sighed happily and made a snow angel. Jack knelt behind her and looked down at her.

"They left something out," he smiled before leaning down to kiss her.

"Suddenly my critical wound has been healed," she giggled, "Thanks, Jack."

"Oh, you're still wounded," he grinned and grabbed her up, "I've got to carry you home."

Before anyone could notice, Jack and Joanna were gone.

* * *

_Wake up, wake up  
The sun cannot wait for long_

This time it was Joanna whose back was plastered to the outside of the house while Jack had his nightly talk with Jamie. She was practicing with her powers that appeared to match his. Tonight she was in a silver colored turtleneck and blue skinny capris with her snowflake around her neck, filled to the brim with moonlight, shining as if trying to remind her of the bond she shared with Jack Frost, the bond she was confident she would soon remember.

She flitted onto the roof and stared up at the moon, which was barely on its way to becoming new.

_Reach out, reach out  
before it fades away_

"The Guardians call you The Man in the Moon, just like the old fairy tale," she said quietly, "Jack tells me you're the one who chooses them. You changed me the same way you changed him. Why? Why did you send me after Jack? Obviously I'm no Guardian, but you must've changed me for _something_, or I wouldn't be here. How about telling me what it is?"

"Sorry, sweetheart," said Jack's voice before he back flipped next to her with his hood up, "I tried that for 300 years and I've only just recently learned that you don't talk to the Man in the Moon; he talks to you. (…) Unless you're like North, leader of the Guardians, but he asks the right kind of questions."

_You will find the warmth  
when you surrender_

"So," he asked, "Are you ready?" Her heart thumped and she tensed up.

"I'm not really sure," she blushed, "I mean, I've been waiting for this all my life. I used to dream of this day—night—whatever…" She took a deep breath. "But now that I'm so close…I'm actually scared." Jack looked seriously at her for a moment and took her hand.

"It's okay to be scared," he said softly and soothingly, "I'm right here with you." She looked at him and he smiled. "And I'm not going anywhere, I promise." She had that familiar Honey Eyes look he used to see long ago and he smiled more, which made her smile back.

"Besides," he chirped as he pulled her up with him, "I've got the perfect cure for fear."

"What's that?" she asked with butterflies in her stomach that were not unwelcome.

_Smile into the fear  
and let it play!_

His smile widened into that impish grin that made her want to faint like a flimsy damsel as he snuck his left arm around her waist.

"Fun!" For the second time that day, Jack Frost swept Joanna off her feet!

_You want to run away,  
run away and you say  
that it can't be so_

"You realize there's a Twilight joke somewhere in there, right?" she laughed over the wind.

"We'll have to make a list!" he laughed back, "Come on!"

Tugging her by the hand, he led her in a randomly elaborate winter dance all over town that would've made Olympian skaters jealous; everywhere they went, he left a snowfall behind.

_You want to look away,  
look away, but you stay  
'cause it's all so close_

They were standing on wire poles when The Sandman's gold began to drift down for the night. Jack reached out and touched one. Joanna gasped wondrously at the shapes it produced.

"Try it," he prompted as a second one came near her.

_When you stand up  
and hold out your hand_

She reached out tentatively and went against the grain with her fingertips; a huge, beautiful flower blossomed, dripping with stars of golden light that glowed softly on her awed face.

"That's incredible," she murmured. Jack just stared at her, floored again at how she looked dressed in Sandy's gold.

_'I __**so**__ want to kiss her right now,'_ he thought, mesmerized. He literally had to shake it off; they had a long way to go and the night wouldn't last forever.

"Joanna," he said. She turned her head up to him to see him perching on the pole by hers with a hand out to her. "Are you ready now?" She smiled and nodded firmly as she took his hand.

"Let's go, wind!" Jack called as they jumped, "Express Lane to the Tooth Palace!"

_In the face  
of what I don't understand,  
you're my reason to be brave!_

* * *

"So, Jack," she asked over the wind, "How do I address the Tooth Fairy?"

"Same way you'd address anyone else, I guess," he shrugged, "We just call her Tooth. She's a real sweetheart; you'll love her! The trick is getting her attention!"

"Why?"

"You'll see!" he winked, "There it is, Jo! The Tooth Palace!"

She gasped out loud at the natural majesty of the home of the legendary Tooth Fairy. Tiny winged beings started whizzing past her head.

"What was that?" she asked after ducking.

"Tooth fairies!" he laughed, "You might want to keep your mouth closed; they're tiny!"

She did and watched with childlike fascination as the small fairies flitted in every possible direction; some of them saw Jack and immediately flew back to announce his presence. A few of them chirped excitedly at him and his guest.

"They're so pretty!" Jo smiled brightly.

"Hey, girls," Jack asked them, "Is your mother home?" They chittered and nodded and flew off.

"Is she really their mother?" Jo asked.

"Not biologically," he answered, "Emotionally, she's a mother to everybody."

"Will she like me?" she wondered. He looked at her.

"Oh, she'll adore you."

In just a few more minutes they came to land on the main floor of the palace. It was full of fairies coming, going, placing teeth in cases, all the time chirping happily. Joanna held Jack's arm as she gazed around.

"It's like Santa's workshop or something," she remarked.

"Trust me," he chuckled and grabbed her hand, "This is _nothing_ like Santa's workshop." He jumped them onto a higher level, where he could see Tooth flitting about as busily as her workers. One of them saw Jack, made a joyful loop-de-loop, and flew into his waiting hands.

"Baby Tooth!" he said excitedly, "Hey! How's my favorite fairy?"

"I thought _**I **_was your favorite fairy, Jack," said the teasing voice of the Tooth Fairy as she hovered behind him. Baby Tooth floated out of his hands and sat on his shoulder so her boss could hug him, which she did.

"Hey, Tooth," he said affectionately, "How've you been?"

"Never better," she replied and pulled back, "It's good to see you again, Jack. I'm sorry I missed you earlier, but the fairies told me." She looked pleasantly surprised at Joanna. "Is this her?"

"Yeah," he smiled, "This is Joanna Fitzgerald. Jo, meet the Tooth Fairy!"

The two females stared at each other in wide-eyed fascination.

"You're the real Tooth Fairy," Jo whispered reverently.

"You're a spirit child!" Tooth breathed, "I haven't seen one of you in centuries!" She took hold of her face with a gentle mother's touch; it turned pink in her hands.

"You're adorable," she said tenderly, "Let's see your teeth! Say Ahhh!"

"Uhh," Jo looked confused, "Ah!" Jack laughed at her weirded out expression.

"Oh, you have _gorgeous_ teeth!" said Tooth, "Baby Tooth, come look! They almost look like Jack's!" Baby Tooth fainted and Jo glanced at Jack. He could tell by her face that she hadn't expected this exuberant, somewhat spastic side of the elegant, motherly Tooth Fairy!

"Ah," she tried to say, "Ah raw yo ah geh!"

"Sorry!" said Tooth, "Say again?" Jo chuckled a bit and rubbed her face.

"I said I brought you a gift!" she smiled and pulled a ring off her middle finger, "I'm sorry it's not tooth-shaped, but I thought you might like this anyway."

The ring was gold with a tear-shaped ruby in an intricately curved setting. Tooth accepted it with sparkling eyes.

"Thank you," she said humbly, "How did you know rubies were my favorite?"

"I didn't," Jo answered sheepishly, "I just figured you'd like something shiny." Tooth held the ring in her closed hands and covered her heart.

"I love it," she said sincerely, "It's beautiful, like you." She gave the girl a peck on the cheek and Jack knew right then and there that Tooth had her hooked. Her Honey Eyes were filled with a child's adoration.

"You wait right here," Tooth winked, "I'll go get your teeth." She flew higher into the palace.

"I told you she'd adore you," said Jack as he played with her hair.

"Did you see how she looked at me?" she said, touching her face, "I wonder if my mom was like that."

"You'll find out soon enough," he smiled.

"Thank you so much again, Jack," she said, "I couldn't have made it this far without you." Jack stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. He looked thoughtful.

"How much further would you like to get?" he asked, "With me, that is." Her face went red and her eyes lit up.

"Wh-what are you saying?" she asked a bit breathlessly. A small group of fairies was hovering nearby.

"Um, girls?" Jack scratched the back of his head, "Do you mind?" They flew away looking disappointed. Jack stood close to Joanna and leaned a bit on his staff.

"I'm saying I want to be with you for as long as I possibly can." He hurried the words out before they could fail him. "You're not a little girl anymore, Joanna. You're…well, you're a grown girl—a woman." That word felt weird to him. "I think you're the most incredible girl I've ever met and I have gone _way_ beyond the crush stage. I'm pretty sure I'm actually falling in love with you."

Joanna's heart stopped, along with the activity of the fairies. They all watched the two like a swarm of soap opera fans, waiting with bated breath to see how the girl would respond.

"Do you really mean that?" her voice cracked and squeaked at the same time. He smiled gently.

"I love playing tricks," he said closely, "but I never lie about my feelings."

At that moment, every fairy within earshot fainted with girlish sighs that made them laugh with embarrassment.

"Thank you, ladies," he waved, "We appreciate the support." He was about to say something else, but Joanna grabbed his face and laid one on him, launching a massive squee fest. Jack's feet were rooted to the ground and he nearly lost his grip on his staff. He leaned it against the wall and held her.

"And the crowd goes wild," Jack joked about the fairies.

"Sorry about that," she said, "I couldn't think of a better way to agree with you. All these years I thought I was only supposed to find you for my memories. I didn't figure on falling for you myself." Jack blinked in surprise and held the sides of her head.

"Are you serious?" he asked in shock.

"Yeah," she nodded breathlessly, "I think…I think I love you, too." He looked emotional.

_'She loves me,'_ he thought, his heart hammering like his chest couldn't contain it anymore, _'She wants to be with __**me**__.'_

This was a whole new door for him he hadn't known existed and Joanna had unlocked it and flung it wide open. His life as a spirit-turned-Guardian had always been relatively free of physical limitations, but this precious feeling that had sprung to life inside of him seemed to lift any remaining clouds and broaden his scope wider than he ever thought was possible! It also scared him, like he'd found a priceless treasure in her that he wanted to protect with every breath in his body.

Still holding her head, he touched foreheads with her. She could see tears in his eyes.

"Thank you," he almost whispered emotionally as he looked deeply into her eyes. She smiled back a bit tearfully and hooked her hands behind his neck. That "thank you" washed over her; he was grateful to her for falling in love with him! It amazed her in a way that defied explanation.

"What are you all staring at?" said Tooth as she returned. When she saw Jack and Joanna, she crossed her arms disapprovingly at her helpers.

"Honestly, girls," she tutted, "How many times have I told you about watching people in their tender moments? Come on, break it up! Those teeth aren't gonna collect themselves! Shoo! Shoo!" She floated over to the young lovers. "Show's over, ladies! Nothing to see here! Sorry, guys. They live for romantic drama."

"That's all right," said Jack, "I think they approve!" Tooth giggled and faced the girl.

"Joanna," she smiled, "I believe this is yours." She presented her with a jeweled and gilded tooth case with her childhood face on it.

"Was my hair really that dark?" said Jo as she held it up.

"Yep," Jack nodded.

"Why do I look so…somber?" she asked, noting a forlorn look on her pale, small face.

"That I don't know," he said as he shouldered his staff.

"Why don't you two do this in my room?" Tooth suggested, "It's the only quiet space in the whole palace."

Seconds later they were in a round golden room resembling an enormous birdcage with a bed hanging right in the middle like a huge perch. It was all window until three-fourths of the way up, when the ceiling started to arch in like a cathedral. They could see the Tooth Fairies buzzing about outside.

"I'll leave you two alone," said Tooth. She touched Jo's shoulders. "Good luck, Joanna. I hope you find everything you're looking for."

"Thank you, Ms. Tooth," Jo gushed and hugged her, "You don't know what this means to me." Tooth shared a knowing glance with Jack.

"No problem," she beamed, "And you can call me Tooth." She floated up. "You take good care of this girl, Jack! She's one of a kind!" As she left, she called back, "And remember: You're surrounded by windows!"

Both pairs of eyes went wide and they stood apart for a brief awkward moment, Jack with his staff behind him and Joanna clutching her tooth case to her chest. She looked down at it after a moment and glanced sideways at him.

"Why don't I, uh…" she started.

"Good idea," he finished.

"How do I…?"

"Just touch it," he pointed. He was now standing next to her. She took a deep breath and swallowed nervously. Everything she had ever worked for had led up to this moment and now here it was, in her hands. She knelt down, followed by Jack, who watched her carefully.

"Okay," she said with her face set, "I'm ready."

No longer hesitant, Joanna Fitzgerald touched the top of the case and watched her memories unfold in a shimmer of light.

* * *

**Author's Review****:**  
You know, you really should announce your weapons _after_ you fire them. For example…

TANGLED REFERENCE! That thing with the Sandman flower? That was _totally_ a Tangled reference!

TWILIGHT JOKE! I've got a million of 'em! Of course, it's not hard to do a Twilight joke when you're dealing with Jack Frost.

The song I used in this one is my personal theme song for Jack and Joanna. They're the first couple I've ever actually made a playlist for (I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that, but I'm sure I'm not the only one).

Those of you who read the books will hopefully recognize Tooth's love of rubies. In the third book, when Tooth was just a child, her parents put all her baby teeth in a tiny ruby box for her to keep. It's a pretty intense story; GO READ IT!

By the way, is anybody else on pins and needles waiting for Despicable Me 2? Everybody else was all like "I can't wait for Ironman 3!" or "I can't wait for Man of Steel!" Me? I can't wait for Despicable Me 2!

The next chapter will be a bit shorter than this one, but it'll still be awesome! Stay tuned!


	12. The Choosing

Let me explain something to y'all about the way I work…

I handwrite my stories in my notebooks before uploading it on the website for your fangirling/fanboying pleasure. I always try not to let the uploading catch up to the handwriting because I hate feeling rushed and as Billy Crystal said in _The Princess Bride_, "You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles." That's why I haven't uploaded for a while, but I'm going through a bit of a writer's block. Y'all know what that's like, right?

HOWEVER, sometimes uploading helps me break out of it, so this upload is my attempt to wake up my inner muse from her catnap. Wish me luck!

I think you're gonna like this, 'cause it gives us a little revelation about Jo's past AND SHE GETS TO MEET SANTA! Buckle up, mates!

* * *

_"Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone."_ – Elaine Paige as Grizabella, _CATS_

* * *

**Chapter 11: The Choosing**  
It had taken exactly one minute for Joanna to take her little trip down Memory Lane. Jack was surprised to see her snap out of it so fast; his own experience had felt longer than one measly minute! He reminded himself to ask Baby Tooth about that.

He watched her from his Indian style position with his staff tucked into his limbs; she had this look on her face of complete and total astonishment, like she had discovered the 8th Wonder of the World…_her_ world, to be exact.

_'Is that what I looked like?'_ he wondered. He'd have to ask Baby Tooth about that, too. He got up on his knees and scootched over to her.

"Jo?" he said, "You okay?" She nodded dumbly, then found her voice again.

"I saw them," she croaked and cleared her throat, "I saw my parents! They were just like you said! They were wind spirits and they were all crazy-powerful and I lived with my dad around The Great Lakes! Didn't you see any of that?"

"No," he shook his head, "Only you and Tooth can see your memories."

"My gosh!" she put her hands on her head, "I remember them now! You were right about my mom; she _was_ hot, and I mean that in _both_ ways! She was tall and beautiful and she had long black hair and a sun-kissed tan and a Georgia Peach Southern accent! Not sure how she picked _that_ up; she used to vacation in Mexico and the Caribbean and places like that.

"And my dad? Seriously, what was his problem? Every time he crossed the border he ran you off like a stray dog!"

"Told ya," he shrugged.

"I never understood why he did that," she brooded, "And then that last time, I was eleven years old. Dad told me I couldn't see you anymore. When I asked him why not, he just looked at me for a second and said…_'You're not the kind of person people want to be around.'_"

"What does _that_ mean?" Jack asked, surprised that any father would say such a thing to his child.

"That's what _I _said," she answered, "I told him, 'But _Jack_ wants to be around me! He likes me!' And Dad said that was because you didn't really know me."

"I remember that part," Jack said sadly, "You told me that while you were crying."

"Do you remember the part where I told you I loved you?" she mumbled and blushed red. Jack slipped his hands under hers and held them.

"Yeah," he said quietly, "Yeah, I remember that." He smiled sadly. "You were so small and you were crying so hard, I thought you'd break in half."

"I nearly did," she said, "After you left, I cried for hours." Her brow furrowed. "It's weird…every time you left, that was when Mom would show up and the three of us would hold hands and start walking out onto the Lakes. After that, it gets fuzzy. It just skips to the next time you came."

"That _is_ weird," Jack puzzled, "Maybe the rest will come time."

"Maybe," she nodded. They sat in silence for a moment.

"The thing I remember most about you," she said, "is how much I loved you. You were _my_ only friend back then, too. You were my hero and my Prince Charming. You cared for me and gave me someone to care for. Those three short years, all I could think about was when I'd get to see you again. It may have been a child's fancy, but I fell in love with you that day when you rescued me from those kids. When I watched you fly off for the last time, I promised myself I'd love you forever and find you again."

Something struck her just then.

"_That's_ why the moon changed me," she realized, "That's why he sent me to find you!"

_"Your answer is with Jack Frost,"_ he quoted with wide eyes.

"I thought he meant you had the answer to who I was, and you did…but the last question I asked him was where I was supposed to be…and that's the question he answered! And the answer to that question was with you! It's not just that you _had_ the answer; it's that you _were_ the answer! He meant to say I was supposed to be with you, but I was dumb enough to only interpret it the one way!"

Jack seemed to be looking at her in a whole new light.

"Then," he said, "the Man in the Moon didn't just change you. He _chose_ you!"

"_Chose_ me?" she repeated perplexingly, "To be a Guardian? Are you nuts?"

"No, not a Guardian," he said as he held her snowflake in the palm of his hand, "You have a few of my powers, but you're not a Guardian. You're something else entirely…something that's just for me." He wasn't sure where these words were coming from, or the surety he felt as he said them; he could only attribute it to his developing Guardian instincts. He could feel them like a moonbeam illuminating something in his mind's eye. He took her hand and put it in his over the charm. He looked her in the eyes and made his declaration in an excited whisper and with a smile to match.

_"You're my Companion!"_

A light instantly radiated from between their hands; they looked and saw that the snowflake, the symbol of their bond, was now glowing icy blue!

"What just happened?" Jo asked, confused.

"I have no idea," Jack shook his head. They were startled to hear the jolly, booming laughter of the voice Jack recognized as Nicholas St. North. A few seconds later, a magic portal of swirling light appeared and the man himself came striding in with some yetis at his back and elves at his feet.

"Hey, North!" Jack smiled as he and Jo stood up, "What's with the light show?"

"I _tell_ you what it is with light show!" he replied exuberantly, "A Companion has been chosen!"

"How…" Jack started to say, then shook his head, "Never mind, I can guess how you knew. What are you doing here?"

"Do you have icicle in your ear?" North shrugged in disbelief, "You have chosen your Companion and I have come to welcome her! MUSIC!"

"NO!" Jack cut him off and pointed his staff at him, "We've already been through this, North! No music!"

"Very well," he threw up his hands, "No music. But at least let me see the lucky girl!"

"Okay, just take it easy," said Jack, "You're kind of freaking her out."

Joanna Fitzgerald was not a coward by any means; in fact, one of the things she prided herself on as a caregiver was her ability to keep her charges safe while their parents were gone.

So she wasn't actually _afraid_ of the giant bear of a man who towered over everyone but the yetis with a kind yet commanding presence, but to find herself in the presence of another living legend was somewhat daunting. She couldn't help half-hiding behind Jack with both hands around his arm and her lower face at his shoulder, which did little to conceal the red brushstroke blush across her nose and cheeks. Jack would never admit it, but he thought that just made her more adorable.

"Jack, that's Santa," she finally said with flat shock.

"I know," he smiled amusingly. She blinked.

"Santa _Claus_."

"You catch on quick!" North winked, "Please, child. Come and let me see you."

She crept forward and accepted his offered hand—his _giant_ offered hand. He leaned down a bit to look at her face; his timeless eyes were full of wisdom and magic and an extremely long lifetime's worth of experience. Here was a man who had traveled the entire world keeping its children safe, a man who had learned, seen and done impossible things. His presence seemed to say "I know everything," but his eyes seemed to say "Let me bake you cookies and read you stories!" He smiled satisfactorally; whatever he'd been searching for in her face, he seemed to have found it.

"My name is Nicholas St. North," he said warmly, "Welcome, my child."

"Thank you," she replied, "I'm Joanna Fitzgerald. Nice to meet you."

"You strike me as somewhat familiar, Joanna," he said, "Do you remember ever seeing me before in your childhood?"

"I was a spirit child before the moon changed me," she said, "Have you ever seen _me?_"

"I'm not sure," he said and tugged at his beard, "Eh, I'll think of it. For now, welcome to the world of the Guardians!" He grabbed her up in a bear hug that would probably have _killed_ a bear! He kissed both her cheeks and set her wobbily back on her feet. The look on her red face made him laugh again.

"I like this child, Jack!" he clapped him on the shoulder, "She is lovely, well-mannered, and blushes like schoolgirl! Come! You must meet Anya!"

"Who's Anya?" Jack and Jo both said.

"Anya is _my_ Companion," he answered proudly, "and my wife!"

"Wait a minute, you're _married?_" Jack popped as he followed him with Jo in hand.

"Of _course_ I am married!" North answered as they entered the workshop, "Haven't you heard of Mrs. Claus?"

"Yeah, but…" Jack asked, "Where was she the _last_ time?"

"In the safehouse," he answered, "I built it for dangerous times. When Pitch attacked, I sent Anya there until the danger passed."

"So where is she now?" asked Jo as she gazed at the magic of North's workshop.

"In kitchen, teaching the elves to bake better cookies!" he answered cheerfully as he signed something.

"Um, Mr. Clause?" said Jo, "Or—or is it Santa?"

"Please, call me North," he insisted.

"Ok…North."

"Yes, child?"

"Why is everyone staring at me?"

North and Jack both looked behind them; Jack had her by the hand, leading her while she looked around. Now she was hiding behind him again and Jack could see why: Every yeti and elf was looking right at her as if she was a princess visiting from some magical kingdom. He was confused as she was.

"Uh, North?" he said.

"Is all right, children," North said gently with his hands on their shoulders, "They recognize Joanna as a Guardian's Companion."

"Should I say something?" she asked.

"Not if you don't want to," he said, "They are simply honored to meet you and they are memorizing the look of your snowflake charm."

"My necklace?" she held it up. It was glowing blue again.

"It is your special charm, Joanna," he said wisely, "It is your symbol of Companionship."

"The symbol of our bond," she added wondrously.

"Exactly," he nodded, "It is more than that as well, but this you will learn with time. For now, you meet Anya! _To the kitchen!"_

* * *

Tooth watched them go through the portal and picked up Joanna's tooth case from off the floor. She smiled at the child's face on it then noticed that it felt lighter than it should have. She pressed her palm to the picture and the compartment with the actual teeth slid out.

She gasped. Her heart and wings both stopped and she landed unsteadily on her knees, hastily snapping the case shut and clasping it to herself like a baby. She looked inside again and felt her heart start up again, hammering in double time to catch up.

Six teeth were missing from Joanna's case.

There was no way Joanna could have taken them; _no_ one could remove teeth from their cases, save the Tooth Fairy herself, so that counted Pitch out, too. The only explanation was that those teeth had never made it in and at her age, they should've been collected _long_ before now.

Tooth picked out a molar, clenched it in her fist, and pressed it to her forehead with her eyes pinched shut. After about twenty seconds, they flew open again. She gently opened her hand and looked down at the tiny tooth. She kissed it and put it back, then closed the case with her face set.

She knew what she had to do.

* * *

**Author's Review****:**  
Just because we're operating on the William Joyce system doesn't mean we can't include a bit of the old fairy tale goodness. North isn't married in the books, but we've always grown up hearing about Mrs. Santa Claus (especially all you Rankin/Bass fans out there! Hands up!)

But since we _are_ operating on the William Joyce system, I've weaseled in another Toothism from the books. In the books, Tooth has the ability to watch a child's memories in their teeth exactly the way described above.

Okay—I'm not normally in the habit of assigning Homework (hate it), but this time, I've got an assignment for y'all: Watch any episode of Green Acres. Trust me—it'll come in handy! ;)

Questions, comments, etc., you know what to do! I'll try not to take too long next time! Wish me luck on the writer's block!


	13. Couples Counseling

Okay, I think this has gone on long enough. Not the story, just this ridiculous writer's block in which I seem to have found myself. I'm slowly crawling out of it, but it's still a struggle. Plus, I need to work on the Spell Check. I haven't been doing that on the Document Manager. But I digress.

I hope y'all did your "homework," 'cause Joanna and Jack are about to be introduced to someone who is what I call a "fanifestation," which is a Fan Manifestation of someone or something! Let's go, chicks and dudes!

One more thing, just a note on North: I notice that when he's being fun and silly, then his thick Russian speech pattern shines through but when he's being serious and wise and cool, then he talks in complete sentences. That's why I'm having him speak so eloquently.

* * *

_"Trust me, Finn. She's the Rowdy Queen! She can do anything!"_ – Jake the Dog, _Adventure Time_

* * *

**Chapter 12: Couples Counseling**  
Jack had spent a good chunk of his life trying to sneak into North's workshop; he'd always figured it would be amazing, but he never even _thought_ of what the kitchen would be like.

The place was the size of a football field; all along the ground level down both sides, ovens and countertop spaces alternated with each other. Above them were enough cabinets and drawers to comfortably house each and every Tooth Fairy and they came in every possible size. High up in the rafters were hanging strings of spices and herbs from every corner of the world. In the middle of the floor were canisters of every baking condiment stacked neatly on top of each other. They were all categorized by their main type and each one nearly touched the spice strings! And at each end of the room were four of the largest, most massive refrigerators either of them had ever seen! The tops were mere inches away from touching the ceiling!

As if that wasn't enough, the room was abuzz with the fluttering of wings; birdlike creatures were darting here and there just like the Tooth Fairies, only they were all over the size spectrum, ranging from hummingbird to ostrich! Jack actually reached out and grabbed one; it was red and had wings like a sparrow and a pelican-shaped bill like a spoon on which was somehow written _1 Tbls._

"They're _measuring_ birds," he murmured, amazed as he released it. Every bird had a bill or a beak shaped like a measuring spoon or cup; they could see them flitting about to scoop out ingredients, smooth them off with their wings, and deliver them to the elves, who mixed and baked and decorated. It was incredible and delicious-smelling and Jack and Joanna stood wide-eyed in the middle of it all.

"What kind of book joke can you make out of _this?_" Jack asked.

"Something between _Harry Potter_ and _Alice in Wonderland_," she said, "with a touch of _Willy Wonka_."

"And maybe _Martha Stewart Living_," he half-smiled.

"Martha Stewart?" said North, "HA! My Anya roundhouse kicked Chuck Norris and the leftover energy _became_ Martha Stewart! No one comes within lightyears of my wife's skill and talent, not to mention her beauty and kindness. I could go on all day, but you will see for yourselves!"

It was then that Jack saw something that was at once adorable and disturbing.

North was prancing toward his wife like a lovesick schoolboy and giggling. Jack couldn't understand his Russian sweet talk, but it made him want to puke. If Pitch had been here, he was sure he'd give him nightmares about this.

"_Please_ tell me I don't act like that around you," he pointed.

"No," she chuckled, "at least not the same way."

"You see, Anya?" said North, "These two are made!" Jack and Jo looked stunned at the woman he was presenting to them. She looked like any one of the Gabor triplets—blonde, beautiful, petite yet sturdy in build, dressed in a fashion similar to North's, and ladylike from the ground up.

"So this is the infamous Jack Frost," she said with a dazzling smile and a flawless Hungarian accent, "I am so pleased to meet you, darling!" She hugged him. She smelled like cinnamon and apples.

"Uh…yeah," he stammered, "Same here."

"Nicholas told me all about you and your efforts in the battle against Pitch," she said, "Nasty man, isn't he? Always trying to stir up trouble for the little ones!"

"Ah," Jack waved off, "He was a piece of cake."

"What kind?" Jo smirked, "Devil's Food?" Jack snorted a laugh and Anya laughed outright like Christmas bells.

"And you must be his Companion!" she turned to Joanna, "What a charming young lady you are!"

_'She thinks __**I'm **__charming?'_ she thought.

"Thank you," she said, "My name's Joanna. You must be Mrs. Claus."

_'Thank you, Captain Obvious!'_ her inner voice kicked her.

"That I am, darling!" she chimed, "I am Nicholas' wife, Companion, and other half!"

"Of course, we were lucky," said North with an arm around her, "We were married even before I became Guardian. Man in Moon was compassionate enough to include Anya and make her the first Companion."

The young couple mentally cowered before the adorable, ageless love of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. Anya barely came up to her husband's shoulder, which looked even cuter. Jack had now moved past the puke stage and wondered what he and Jo could learn from a legendary couple like these two. He intended to be with _his_ Companion for eternity and he wanted to do it right.

"So, uh," he asked, "How does this whole Guardian/Companion thing work?"

"Well, as far as the relationship goes, that depends entirely on you," said Anya as she led them through, "but to explain the functions of a Guardian's Companion would take much talk. Please come and have a piece of apple pie. Not to brag, but you haven't _lived_ until you've tried my apple pie!"

That was a phrase they'd heard all their lives, but once they tried Mrs. Claus' fresh apple pie, they believed it!

"This is amazing," Jack commented. He could almost feel his knees buckling!

"It's a gateway into Narnia," Jo added.

"Come and sit at the table!" Anya invited and led them through a side door between the ovens. There was a small dining nook with a round table and a cozy intimate setting that looked like a Thomas Kinkade painting.

"This is our private dining area," said North, "Most nights we dine with the elves and yetis, but sometimes we like to be alone." Jack watched as North pulled out a chair for Anya and did the same for Joanna. She half-smiled sheepishly.

"Very good, Jack," North winked, "Already you are becoming perfect gentleman!"

"Yeah, well," he shrugged with embarrassment, "don't let Bunny find out or he'll never let me live it down."

"You think I _will?_" Jo teased. He kissed her temple and sat down by her. Some of the measuring birds came in and delivered the rest of the pie and some glasses of milk.

"Where did these birds come from?" she asked, "I've never seen anything like them."

"Nor will you ever, I imagine," Anya answered, "Nicholas was working on a way to create measuring utensils that could fly for me. Unfortunately, one of my pet birds got out of its cage and drank the experimental liquid. (Jack and Jo looked shocked.) He miraculously survived, but it didn't occur to us to separate it from its mate and as you see, measuring has proven to be a dominant gene."

"No kidding," Jack commented, "What about the huge ones?"

"They mutated over the generations," she said simply, "They are wonderful helpers and a lovely sight and they keep themselves well-groomed."

"They're beautiful," Jo smiled softly.

"Of course they are," said Anya, "Beauty is my center, you know."

"Companions have centers?" Jo asked. Anya chuckled.

"Everyone has a center, my darling," she said mysteriously.

"You see, Joanna," said North, "A Guardian's center is what he or she puts out into the world and protects in children. Jack knows this, as he is a Guardian himself."

"The Guardian of Fun," Jo smiled at Jack.

"Exactly," said North, "A _Companion's_ center is what he or she brings into a Guardian's life. For Anya, that is beauty."

"That sounds wonderful," Jo blushed, "but I don't think I understand." Anya smiled kindly and stood up.

"Come with me," she invited with a hand out, "I want to show you something." Jo looked at the guys.

"It's okay." Jack touched her shoulder. "We've still got time. I wanted to talk to North, anyway."

She didn't really want to leave Jack, but she went off with Anya anyway. Despite the vote of confidence, Jack's eyes followed them until they were out of his line of vision. He could hear North chuckling.

"I know exactly how you feel, Jack," he said kindly, "When you find the woman you love, she becomes your treasure. You want to protect her from all the evils this world can dish out…and it frightens you to know you cannot."

"North…" Jack turned to the man he respected most and let him see the mist in his eyes. "I'm _beyond_ frightened. I'm freaking out over here!"

"Of course you are," North shrugged casually, "This is your first love."

"First and only," Jack corrected.

"And you are new to this."

"I am! I have no idea how to be a boyfriend!" Jack scooted closer. "I used to _hate_ guys in love because all they did was go on and on about their girlfriends and how perfect they thought they were. (…) I still hate them, but at least now I know where they're coming from."

"Jack." North gripped the boy's shoulder. "Calm yourself." Jack sighed and sat back while the older man looked at him. This was really the kind of talk he should have been able to have with his father and he told him so. Jack gave him a sad half-smile.

"My dad died before I got old enough for it," he said, "so it looks like you're stuck with me."

North looked surprised as he realized the depth of Jack's trust in him. Beneath his reckless, devil-may-care attitude, he was still a boy in need of a father's guidance and North had always wanted a son. He loved and protected every child every minute of every day, but Jack had been the first young male to reach out for the wisdom he had to offer. He smiled.

"All right, Jack," he said, "I will tell you all I know. (…) Then—since we already talked about the birds, later we will talk about the bees!"

_'What have I gotten into?'_ Jack thought weirdly.

* * *

"How am I supposed to be a Companion, Anya?" Jo asked helplessly as they walked through the workshop, "I've never had so much as a childhood sweetheart! I spent my first five years of immortality squatting in a creepy old mansion in Saginaw, Michigan and then I became a childcare provider. I'm practically a social recluse!"

"Oh, don't be silly, darling," Anya replied, "Just because you don't interact with your age group doesn't make you a social recluse. Besides, children are more fun, anyway!"

"I thought you'd say that," Jo chuckled, "but my point is Jack is the first person my age I've ever gotten close to." Her voice lowered a bit. "He's the first guy I've ever fallen for…and I don't have a clue what I'm doing."

"That's the first lesson of being in love, my dear," she smiled and put an arm around her, "_Neither_ of you know what you're doing." Jo dropped her head down like an anime character and Anya laughed.

"Don't worry, darling!" she chimed, "Everything is going to be all right!"

"What makes you so sure?" Jo asked more out of awe than of doubt. Anya's green eyes shone with centuries of magic and wisdom.

"Because it is not the Man in the Moon that chooses a Companion," she said, "It is the Guardian." Joanna looked mesmerized, and yet…

"I must be an idiot, 'cause I don't understand that, either," she confessed.

"You will, darling," Anya smiled and patted her back, "You will."

She led her into a beautiful room about the size of North's private lab with old-fashioned furniture that was intricately hand-embroidered with flowers from all over the world. The walls were covered with magically moving pictures painted in the richest, deepest, brightest, most vibrant colors on the face of the earth! Flowers of every kind swayed in an invisible breeze and it rained occasionally! A rainbow split into ribbons to fly all over the room until they collided back into one! A breathtaking crystal chandelier hung above that looked like it was raining stars with light dripping from it like raindrops that disappeared into thin air! The fire in the fireplace was changing colors! Joanna felt her inner 70s teen creeping out.

"Psychedelic," she whispered to herself as she gazed around.

"Watch your head," Anya warned, "Mind the menagerie!"

Jo gasped softly; the most exquisite glass figurines were magically hanging in the air! Most of them were small birds and flowers. They were crystal clear and caught every color they passed, especially when a rainbow color flew through one. Over by the window was the only colored structure in the room, a lifesize weeping cherry willow. It was perfect in every detail, from the clear uncolored trunk down to the red stamens of each pink blossom, and it brought Joanna to her knees…literally!

"I see you like the cherry tree," Anya remarked with a hint of pride.

"It's the most beautiful glass tree I've ever seen!" Jo replied breathlessly and tried to stop herself from crying.

"Thank you," Mrs. Claus said humbly, "It took 200 years to make."

"Beauty really _is_ your center, isn't it?" said Jo.

"It truly is," she nodded, "I have been blessed with eyes that see the beauty in everything this world has to offer, even the seemingly insignificant things. I see beauty in old shoes, in worn-out rags, in the dandelions that you blow out. I also see it in people—in their eyes, in their hearts, sometimes even in their souls." She waved her arm around the room. "This is what I see every day, my dear, and this is what I have brought—and continue to bring—into the life of my Nicholas, the Guardian of Wonder. It is what makes me the Companion to his Guardian."

"Beauty and Wonder," Jo murmured, "Sounds like a fairy tale come true."

"In the right hands, darling," said Anya, "a fairy tale _can_ come true."

"So…" Jo asked, "If I knew what my center was, would that make me a better Companion?"

"No, not necessarily," Anya said thoughtfully, "As I said, the relationship depends on you two. Don't forget, Nicholas and I were happily married even before he was chosen. Finding your center does not define your worth in the eyes of the people you love, especially your beloved. Finding your center is the final step to discovering who you truly are. It serves to give you the strength to live for and fight for those people. As a Companion, your strength and your love are what support your Guardian; it may not sound like much, but that strength and support you give will do more for him than even he could realize. Often, just knowing that someone loves you can give you the strength to overcome anything, from Pitch's Nightmares to your own personal demons.

"So the answer to your question is both yes and no," she finished, "It will not make you a _better_ Companion…but it will certainly help."

"I don't know what my center is," Jo shook her head.

"Neither did Jack when he was first chosen," Anya smirked, "He found his center in the midst of conflict 300 years after he changed. You are lucky; you are only…how old?"

"56."

"See? You are young, even by Guardian standards!" she piped, "I am certain you will find your center in due time! But remember, darling: It is not your center that makes him love you." She lightly touched Jo's chest plate with her finger, but it didn't feel weird. "It is your heart." Joanna smiled with gratitude and relief and hugged Mrs. Claus, the _other_ universal mother figure.

"Thanks, Anya," she murmured.

"Of course, my darling," Anya replied warmly with her head over hers, "I'm always here if you need to talk. Come! Let's see if our men are through talking!"

They found them on the balcony that came from the Globe Room; not only were they still talking, but Tooth had joined the conversation!

"Tooth!" Jo's eyes lit up and she ran over to hug her, "I'm so sorry we left you behind like that!"

"Oh, don't worry about it," she waved off, "I came to ask you something: Do any of your memories seem kinda foggy?"

"Yeah," Jo blinked in surprise, "all the ones that don't involve Jack. How'd you know?" Tooth sighed.

"I was afraid of that," she said darkly, "Joanna…I'm so sorry…but your memories are…incomplete."

"_WHAT?_"Jo and Jack both popped.

"What does that mean?" Jo asked. Tooth opened the case again and showed them precisely what it meant. Jack and North were stunned from the Guardian perspective; knowing that teeth equaled memories, Jo was stunned from her _own_ perspective.

Six of her teeth…six of her _memories_…were missing from her tooth case. Jack's eyes and voice went cold in a different way than usual as he asked, "Who has them?" Tooth met his gaze with her own and when Jo looked up at her, she answered her grimly and with a full knowledge of the weight of the answer.

"Your father."

* * *

**Author's Review****:**  
I probably won't be too long for the next update after a cliffhanger like that, LOL I have to ask y'all to bear with me, though; I'm really trying to bust through that writer's block and it's never that easy!

As I stated before, I've put in Mrs. Claus despite the fact that we're operating on the William Joyce Principle. Why? Because of my inner muse. If you've heard me ramble about that, you know what I'm talking about.

No offense intended, by the way, to Martha Stewart or her fans…or Chuck Norris, for that matter. LOL I don't own any of the titles mentioned in this or any chapter!

And I'm sorry I didn't give Anya a Matryoska doll. I couldn't figure out the rest of her personality. I just wanted to get right down to the tiny wooden baby. ^_^

And if you did your homework and watched Green Acres, hopefully you'll recognize the direct modeling on Eva Gabor in Anya's character. I don't know why she ended up that way; I think it's because I was watching season 2 of Gilligan's Island while I was handwriting the earlier chapters and Zsa-Zsa was in one of the episodes as a super-rich lady (naturally) and she just weaseled her way into my subconscious.

Please stay tuned for the sphincter-tightening continuation!


	14. Window Vows

I'M BACK, EVERYBODY! I've finally broken out of my writer's block just enough to feel comfortable with an update! Last night I finished one of the pivotal chapters in my notebook and I was so happy and I thought how happy y'all would be LOL! Anywho, I hope you like this chapter and I don't own the song that plays later (you'll see).

Y'all remember when Tooth took a peek at Jo's teeth? Here's why!

* * *

_"Just trust me to make it right."_ – Boaz, _The Book of Ruth: A Journey of Faith_

* * *

**Chapter 13: Window Vows**  
Two canines, one molar, two lateral incisors, and a bicuspid were all missing from their empty spaces like children's heads from their pillows. It broke Tooth's heart almost as much as the fact that Joanna's search for her past had not ended after all. Joanna, however, was distracted by the winged woman's revelation.

"My father?" she squeaked, "He's still alive?"

"Oh, yes," Tooth said seriously, "He is very much alive."

"And you say _he_ has my missing teeth?" Jo looked weirded out, "Why?"

"That's just it," said Tooth, "He wouldn't tell me." Jack and Jo both gave her the same "huh?" look.

"What do you mean he wouldn't tell you?" Jack asked the question they were both thinking.

"Did you _see_ him?" Jo asked with wide eyes.

"Twice, actually," said Tooth, "The first time was back in 1978. You were _way_ past the normal age when your case should have been full and my fairies were complaining that they had found the missing teeth, but they were being held under lock and key. Obviously this was a weird one, so I flew out myself to investigate. I was plenty mad, too; half the fairies I sent for them had come home with violent cases of frostbite. Some of them couldn't even fly…but when I found him and laid out my grievances, he came at me with everything he had. Fortunately I was too fast for him," she smiled proudly, "but he was bent on keeping those teeth, no matter what. When I asked him why, he looked right at me and said, 'As the Guardian of children's memories, you should understand.' It caught me off guard and then his winter storm got too hard for even _me_ to handle. So I let it drop…until tonight."

"What happened tonight?" Jo asked with some amount of dread.

"Pretty much the same as last time," Tooth huffed, "only this time, he gave me more of a clue to his motives. He said the memories I was seeking didn't belong in the hands of one who protects innocence in children. That really ruffled my feathers and I told him that wasn't his call to make, that every child's tooth is under my protection and that I was the Guardian of _all_ the important memories of childhood."

"Ha, ha!" North beamed, "_That's_ our girl! What did he say to _that?_"

"He tried to drown me," she said blandly. Everyone looked shocked at her. "Don't worry, I'm fine. He only did it to scare me. I managed to slip out and snowglobe my way home so I could warm up."

Joanna stared at Tooth, her face drawn and tired. She had risked her personal safety to help her and it had been for nothing. Her past was not whole and her own father was vehemently safeguarding what were probably her most important memories from her. He had to have known what they were for him to behave this way.

"I'm sorry, Tooth," her voice broke, "You did all that for me and nearly got killed for it." The last of her strength sapped out and Jack had to catch her before she collapsed. Tooth gently tipped her chin and made her look at her.

"I'm fine, Jo," she said calmly and firmly, "I'm a Guardian. I've seen and conquered things _much_ more dangerous than your dad. North will testify to that."

"Is true," he nodded gravely.

"We'll all help you through this," she continued, "but for now, you need to go home and get some rest." She smiled softly. "You have children to take care of, remember?"

Jack watched the light return to his lover's eyes.

_'Jamie,'_ she thought, _'Sophie.'_

Companion or no, she was still their nanny, and they still needed her. That thought became a tether and the strength returned to her knees.

"You're right," she nodded with new resolve and held Jack's hand, "I've still got a job to do." She looked at Jack. "Walk me home?"

"Here." North tossed him a glass sphere. "Take snowglobe; is faster."

"Thank you, everyone," said Joanna, "As we used to say in the 70s, you're all a groovy bunch!" North gave out another booming laugh.

"The feeling is mutual, Joanna!" he said as he hugged her again, "You are always welcome at the Pole!"

"Goodbye, darling," Anya smiled, "I look forward to seeing you again."

"And don't worry," said Tooth, "We'll piece your past together."

Joanna gave them all one more "Thank you" before Jack led her through the magic portal and right back into her own room. Once the noise died out, Jo raised an eyebrow at her boombox; she'd left her ipod running and it was currently playing Maroon 5's "Daylight."

"Jack," she asked, "You didn't happen to enchant my ipod to only play love songs, did you?"

"Nah," he chuckled, "Magic is more North's thing. Didn't get my letter from Hogwarts." She giggled.

"Are you gonna check in on Jamie?" she asked.

"Just for a second," he said, "I've got a little Guardian business to take care of." She looked at him.

"Jack," she said seriously, "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"

"Depends on what you think I'm thinking," he smiled devilishly.

"Jack, no," she shook her head.

"Joanna, relax…"

"You can't!"

"Well, _you_ can't," he shrugged. She threw her arms around his neck.

"Jack," she croaked, "He sent you away from me when I was too young to do anything about it. He didn't care how I felt, how _you_ felt, how anyone felt." She ducked her head in his neck. "I don't want to lose you again! Not after I've finally found you!" Jack held her tight with his eyes closed.

"North told me," he said softly, "that it's not the moon that actually chooses the Companion. He only bestows the title and powers."

"Anya said something like that," she replied as they pulled back to face each other. Jack nodded.

"They're right," he said, "The real choosing is in the Guardian." He closed his hand around her snowflake. "_I _chose you, Joanna. 48 years ago I chose you. You've always been my Companion—first as my friend, the only one I had, and now as the love of my life." He smirked. "Sound familiar?"

"Don't say it," she rolled her eyes with a smile, "I'll add it to the list."

"Okay," he chuckled, "Seriously, though; I know it sounds cliché…" He shook his head helplessly. "But I love you, Jo. In different ways, I always have."

"Jack," she said and held his hands, "I know I don't need to ask you this, but I feel like I should: You once held me as a child—_loved_ me as a child. But I'm all grown up now, a woman. I need to know which one you love now. I need to know who you see when you look at me. Who are you holding when you hold me?"

Jack stared silently at her for a moment; then, after leaning his staff against the wall by the window, he scooped her up, sat her on the cushioned window sill sideways, and knelt in front of her with his knees straddling her legs so they were directly face-to-face, no holds barred. It made her blush even deeper.

"I want you to understand something, Joanna," he said clearly and honestly, "I loved you then the way I love Jamie now…and I love you now in a way I never thought was even possible for someone like me." He got misty-eyed as he continued, looking both strong and vulnerable as he pulled the words from his heart.

"I used to watch people in love and I would…_wonder_ what it is that draws them together like that, but I…I-I never even _imagined_ I could feel this way myself. In 300 years, I've never felt anything that even comes close to what I felt when I first saw you the way you are now. Even then, I never expected to fall this hard or this fast.

"I know that's a round-about way to say it," he smiled sheepishly, "but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that…I love you." He held her face. "I truly…_deeply_ love you, Joanna. And that makes me _your_ Companion as much as it makes you mine." He brought her forehead to his; it was warm. "Let me do this for you," he whispered pleadingly, "Let me restore your memories. I know I can do it because I know it's for you."

Joanna stared humbly at the boy she loved, remembering what Anya had said about love making you strong against anything and she could somehow tell that Jack had already undertaken this task in his heart and was going with or without her blessing. It was just like the day they'd met, when he'd saved her and ridden off: He was her prince again and what was a prince without his princess?

She slowly moved her face in real close, closing her eyes as she did, and poured every ounce of passion she had into the kiss she gave him with the music underlining the moment.

_'Cause when the daylight  
comes, I'll have to go  
But tonight I'm gonna hold you  
so close_

Jack leaned her back against the window wall and rested his forearms on either side of her head. He felt her face heat up by about a hundred degrees and he smiled while kissing her.

_And in the daylight  
we'll be on our own  
but tonight I need to hold you  
so close_

Without opening his eyes and still kissing his girl, Jack reached for his staff and expertly shot a freeze chill into a dark corner by the door. He smiled with satisfaction and Jo looked startled to hear the victim's outcry.

"What the heck was _that?_" she exclaimed. She looked over to where Jack's staff was pointing and her eyes nearly popped out. The biggest rabbit she'd ever seen came limping out of the shadows on one frozen hind paw. He looked at once cuddly and intimidating—kind of like North, but fuzzier. Joanna wasn't sure whether she wanted to hide behind her boyfriend or curl up like Sophie and burrow her face into that soft, warm fur.

"Enjoy the show, Eggbert?" Jack smirked and perched on the edge of the sill with his staff standing on the floor. Jo could almost hear her face sizzling.

"All right, I admit I deserved that," said Bunny, after which he smashed his foot free, "I was just checking on Sophie."

"Is something wrong with Sophie," Jo asked with alarm.

"No, no," said Bunny, "She's fine, love. She's just a…a bit of a favorite of mine, like Jamie is for Jack." He smirked. "I rather thought he'd be in Jamie's room and here I find him pashing on the nanny."

"Okay, I'm not even gonna ask what that means," Jack said irritably, "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to be curious," Bunny answered with his ears perked, "What's going on here, besides _Romeo and Juliet?_" Jack sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Jo," he pointed with the same hand, "meet the Easter Bunny. Bunny, this is Joanna."

"Right," Bunny smiled, "Nanny Jo. Pleased to make your acquaintance, love."

"Um, yeah," she blinked, flustered, "Me, too. Love the accent."

"Hear that, Jack?" he said, "_She_ likes my accent."

"I guess someone has to," Jack muttered, "All right, Bugs, here's the short version." He pointed at Jo. "She's my Companion and is missing some teeth from her Tooth Fairy case."

"Crikey," said a shocked Bunny.

"I know," said Jack and thumbed out the window, "Her dad has them locked up for some reason and he's not gonna give 'em up easily." He cupped Jo's head and kissed her one more time.

"I'm gonna get your memories back," he murmured tenderly, "I promise."

"I believe you," she nodded, "Be careful." He smiled and stood on the window sill while Bunny asked, "And just how do you plan to do that, mate?" Jack half-turned with that mischievous smile of his.

"I'm gonna go have some fun." With that, he stepped out into the wind, just as he had all those years ago, leaving snowflakes in his wake like a protective aura. Jo watched him fly off, just like before, her necklace sparkling in the starlight. She barely even noticed Bunny saying, with a slight tone of appreciation, "Hmph—bloody show pony."

* * *

**Author's Review****:**  
First, off, let's give a special welcome to **1233456789treytrey**, a genuine Aussie who was kind enough to give me a bit of a fill-in on Aussie slang! I won't insult you by trying to be cool and give you an Aussie greeting (because people like that need to be smacked) but I'll give you one of my favorite American greetings: Here's lookin' at you, kid!

So, yeah: The reason I put Maroon 5 in there is because I was listening to that song a lot at the time I was handwriting the chapter. Fun! And Jack's big speech was one of the very first scribbles I came up with when my brain was bringing this story to a boil, so I'm very fond of it.

Tooth's little speech about how she's beaten more dangerous people than Jo's dad was a sort of mini-homage to what a butt-kicker she was in the books. YOU HAVE TO READ THE BOOKS! THE NEXT ONE COMES OUT IN TWO MONTHS! Join me in the Dance of Agony!

Anyway, I'll try not to take too long next time (or at least, not AS long) because there's gonna be an adorable friendship bonding moment between Jo and Bunny! It's a literal warm fuzzy! Hope this was worth the wait!


	15. A Father's Reasons

I started typing this immediately after uploading the last chapter, so if I don't answer anybody here, I'm sorry.

Get ready for that warm fuzzy I promised you! This is what every Bunny fan wishes they could do, including me! Hope you enjoy it and I hope you've had your potty break already, 'cause there's about to be an intense Boyfriend vs. Dad showdown! Don't get too excited yet, though; the fighting comes next chapter!

I also must ask pardons of any inhabitants of both Australia and the Great Lakes areas; I've never been to either one. Any info I have on your home is what I've gotten off the internet. The Great Lakes scenes are farfetched, but it's all for the sake of the story, so please bear with me!

* * *

_"I'd do anything to keep you safe."_ – The dad from one of those "talk to your kids about drinking" commercials (it's for a website but I can't remember which one)

* * *

**Chapter 14: A Father's Reasons**  
Joanna sighed and leaned on the window seat with her eyes closed.

"Bunny," she said quietly, "How well do you know Jack?"

"_All_ too well," he chuckled. She looked up at him and he was caught off guard at how tired and vulnerable she seemed. Her gorgeous, childlike eyes were full to the brim and he felt the same protective instinct for her that he felt for Sophie.

"Here, now," he said in a gentler tone, "There's no need for that, love. Let's dry those pretty tears, eh?" She stood still with her lip trembling while the gentle giant tried to detour her tears. It was strange, but something about him brought out her inner child, just like Tooth. It must've been a Guardian thing. She didn't have to think twice about trusting a person whose life was dedicated to the protection of children. She could place herself in their hands without fear or worry. She could trust them with her feelings and Bunny could see what they were as he tried to wipe her eyes.

"You're afraid for him." It wasn't a question.

"I'm terrified," she whispered, her voice having failed her, "You don't know what my dad can do."

"Perhaps not," he smiled, "but I do know what Jack can do and I know him well enough to honestly say he'll be apples."

"Apples?" she repeated flatly.

"I mean he'll be just fine," he said, "I don't know how long it'll take, but you mark my words, Nanny Jo: He'll be back with your choppers." She nodded and sighed.

"My head hurts," she mumbled and rubbed her forehead.

"You're tired," he said, "and rightly so. You get on to bed and don't worry about Jack."

"Okay," she smiled, "Thanks, Bunny." She raised a tentative hand. "Um…can I…?"

"All right." He squatted down with an eye-rolling smile. "But don't tell Jack. I get enough from him already."

"Deal," she beamed and leaned over his head to hug it.

_'No wonder Sophie loves him so much!'_ she thought cutely. His fur was softer than any regular rabbit she'd ever pet before and she was tempted to let herself fall asleep on him right then and there. Jack probably wouldn't appreciate that, though.

"Oy," said Bunny suspiciously, "What are you gigglin' about, Sheila?"

"Nothing," she answered and kissed his cheek, "Thanks for cheering me up, Bunny. You're right; Jack will be fine."

"Good," he nodded, "Don't forget that." He smoothed her hair down. "Sleep tight, love." He hopped out of the window and down the house. When Jo looked, a hole in the snow had just closed and a flower had sprung up in its place—_way_ out of season, she thought.

"Always the window," she murmured as she closed it and drew the curtains, "Maybe my name should be Wendy." She sighed again with the drapes in her hands. She peeked through so the moon could touch her face.

"Protect him," she prayed in a whisper, "and bring him back." The light intensified on her hair as if The Man in the Moon himself had rested his kind and steady hand on her head. She heard one word in her mind and in her heart: _Believe._

* * *

Jack was perched on top of a lighthouse overlooking Lake Huron with his hood up.

"Welcome to Saginaw, Michigan," the sign had said, "Water Wonderland." He raised an eyebrow and chuckled shortly; other times of the year, maybe, but in November it was more like a Water Wasteland. He'd seen worse; tonight the bay was active and gray, but at least it wasn't raining and the moon was bright. That should make it easy to get dear old Dad's attention. He got up and ran down the lighthouse, trailing his staff behind him and leaving frost on the wall—white frost that would show up well. He grinned to himself and hopped around the main deck of a fishing boat. Why they were out on rough water at night was beyond him, but he pulled out all the stops to make his presence known. Fishermen were slipping and cursing and Jack was frosting and laughing, from the decks to the crow's nest.

"Party time," he singsonged as he sent his magic snowflake floating into the lookout's face. He was a wizened old salt with a hard face and a lust for life similar to North's; once that snowflake kissed his red nose, he laughed loud and hard.

_"Come, all ye young fellows that follow the sea,"_ he sang. A few more of Jack's Happy Flakes and the men below were joining in with _"Yo-ho, blow the man down!"_

"Ooookay…" Jack said weirdly, "We're not actually on the sea, but whatever."

_"Now please pay attention and listen to me,"_ the lookout continued.

_"Give me some time,"_ the others echoed, _"to blow the man down!"_

Jack laughed and swept up a snowfall over the boat that made them shout in awe. The old man kept singing a Great Lakes version of the old sea shanty. He sang the verses and his shipmates sang the chorus.

_Oh, the Witch of November's a-rovin' the Lakes  
Yo-ho, blow the man down  
She sleeps in the summer, but now she's awake  
Give me some time to blow the man down_

Jack listened curiously to their song. Witch of November?

_Oh, beware of the Witch, for a devil is she  
Yo-ho, blow the man down  
A sinker of ships and a freighter or three  
Give me some time to blow the man down_

Jack didn't understand how they could make something so awful sound so jolly. Maybe the emotional detachment kept them calm…and sane.

_Should the Witch of November catch you on the waves,  
Yo-ho, blow the man down  
She'll churn up the waters and make them your grave  
Give me some time to blow the man down_

"Man, this is depressing," Jack muttered.

_So beware of the Witch if you value your life  
Yo-ho, blow the man down_

One of the men cut in and jokingly sang, _"But the only witch you've ever seen is your wife!"_ Everybody laughed heartily and sang the big finish.

_Give me some time to blow the man down!_

The men below returned to their work, carefully trying to step around the freak snow and ice that had come out of nowhere. The old lookout returned to whatever he was doing and sang quietly to himself.

_On a tree by a river,  
a little tom-tit sang  
Willow, tit-willow, tit-willow_

"Tit-willow?" Jack repeated with a weird face, "What the heck is a tit-willow?"

"It's an English term for anyone who's an idiot," said a voice behind him. Jack jumped back and landed on the rim of the crow's nest. "It was made popular by Gilbert and Sullivan in this song," he continued, unfazed, "Having lived as long as you have, I'd have thought you knew that."

He hadn't changed a bit. He still had that gloomy look on his face, the trench coat, and the boots. The only difference Jack could see was that he'd traded the ski cap for a black and gray scarf. He looked like a healthy 40-year-old man with marble gray eyes and smoky gray hair that was wispy and shaggy.

He held his left hand down to the side and with a flick of the wrist blew a bone-chilling breeze through the old man that prompted an immediate descent. The two spirits faced each other the whole time from opposite sides of the nest—Jack perching, the other man standing straight as a Royal Guard.

"Was that really necessary?" said Jack, "It's not like he can see us."

"I don't want the distraction," he replied, "What are you doing here, Jack?"

"What I do best," Jack answered cheekily, "Stirring up trouble."

"I'm sorry to tell you this," said the man, "but my daughter is no longer with us. She…" His voice faltered for a second. "She drowned herself back in '75 in the waters of Lake Superior."

Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise, but not for the reason the man thought.

"She _drowned_ herself?" he repeated, "Did you see her do it?"

"I watched her jump myself," said the man, "I searched for her body for hours but after a while, spirits with her kind of body dissolve and become the water and the wind." He looked the boy in the eye. "She's dead, Jack." His voice cracked. "My child that you loved is dead."

Jack stared at the spirit man in shock.

_'He doesn't know,'_ he thought, _'The Man in the Moon must've hidden her or he would've found her by now!'_

"Wait a minute," he interrupted his own thoughts, "If she's dead, why do you still have her teeth?"

The father didn't answer. Jack stood up on the rim.

"Most parents of dead children keep their toys or their clothes or their baby blankets," he said, "They don't keep their teeth, especially not locked up in a box!"

"People grieve in different ways," the man replied with a warning undertone.

"But they don't lie about it," Jack declared, "or attack Tooth Fairies!"

"Is that what you're here for?" he asked, "My daughter's teeth?"

"Oh, please! You know it is!" Jack said in a don't-play-dumb way, "Just like you know she's not really dead!"

"Watch it, Frost!" he barked, "You're treading deep waters here."

"Why?" Jack challenged, "What are you afraid of? What kind of memories are you keeping from her?"

With fluid movement the man swept over to Jack's side and virtually towered over him, but Jack stoically stood his ground.

"What's your interest in this?" asked Dad suspiciously, "The Tooth Fairy I can understand, but you…you'll fight me for these memories if you have to." A light of realization crept into his eyes. "You know where she is, don't you? You found her!"

Jack hesitated for a moment out of a protective instinct; then the father's pain overpowered him and he felt compelled to answer.

"Yes." The pain was replaced with hope and relief; he turned away and stepped down into the nest.

"I knew it," he breathed, "I _knew_ she was all right! When I saw her in that house I recognized her right away! Then she left, but I couldn't follow her! I never knew what became of her." He turned back to Jack. "How did you find her?"

"I didn't." Jack slipped down to sit on the nest. "The moon sent her to me. It took a long time, but she found me."

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow, "And? Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Yes, there is," said Jack, "She wants the rest of her memories back."

They had a silent battle of wits. Jack knew that was _not_ the answer the father wanted and so did he. This was Jack's way of letting him know he wasn't playing around.

Neither was Dad.

"You're in love with her." He called him out and delivered a punishing blow with that one. Jack flinched inside; he wasn't gonna get away after all. "That's why you've come to me primed for a fight, just like the knight in shining armor you've always been for her. Tell me something, Jack: Is she happy with you? Has she established herself in the world? What's she doing for a living? What are her hobbies?"

"She has a great life!" Jack snapped, "She's a live-in nanny, she likes to read, she loves music and she loves me. As a matter of fact, she's my girlfriend now _and_ my Guardian's Companion! The only thing that's missing is her past."

"If someone's truly happy," Dad countered, "the past shouldn't matter."

"Some of us have a hard time moving on without it," Jack said testily, "Now quit dodging me and tell me where you've hidden those teeth!"

"If you really loved my daughter, you wouldn't ask that," Dad said just as testily.

"I'm _not asking!_" Jack stood and slammed his staff down, plastering the nest with a thick layer of ice. "I'm straight up demanding! Your daughter needs her memories back, old man—_all_ of them! I don't know what you think you're protecting her from, but she'll never be whole without them, no matter how much or how well she's loved. You know it, I know it, and more importantly, _she_ knows it."

The cold front spirit was silent for a minute. Jack had certainly changed since he'd seen him last. He was still as annoying as he'd always been, but the Jack Frost standing before him now was a man…a young, stupid man who had no idea what he was getting into.

"You asked me what kind of memories I was keeping from her," he said, "What kind of memories would you take from _your_ child if you could?"

Jack didn't answer; a brief image of Jamie tried to pop up but for once, he stifled it. He started to see where he was going with this.

"You told me she was happy," he continued, "When you love someone, you want to _keep_ them happy."

"Even bad memories are important, Pops," Jack said a bit more gently, "I know that a lot better than you might think."

"Some memories are worse than others," the man replied darkly, "Some children have memories you can't even imagine, memories no child should ever have." He faced Jack squarely. "My daughter's memories are the stuff of nightmares. They could destroy her. Would you ask me to place that burden on my own child? Would _you_ put it on the shoulders of the girl you love?"

"That's not m shot to call," Jack said steadily, "She wants those memories and I want what she wants." Dad turned away roughly and leaned his hands on the railing. "Joanna's not the weak little girl you think she is, Gramps," he kept going, "Not anymore. She's an adult now. She may not look it, but she's tough—a survivor. She somehow managed to make something of herself without revealing her big secret, her immortality. She had nothing but the clothes on her back and now she has a career, a—a life with the best family on Earth, a circle of the most incredible friends, and a boyfriend who worships the frozen ground she walks.

"She's a lot stronger than you give her credit for," he finished, "and she's not alone anymore. You say those memories of hers are so horrible? Fine. They are. But they won't destroy her and the reason for that is because of her strength and because I'm there with her. I will _always_ be there to hold her until her storms pass."

Dad was floored at this boy's fierce declaration; he was in love with his daughter with such fire as would melt him if it was real! Then he noticed something else.

"Her name is Joanna?"

"Yeah," Jack answered, "She named herself that. She said she liked how it sounded." Dad leaned back on the mast and looked intrigued.

"She has a name," he said, mystified, "None of our children ever had names."

Now that Jack thought about it, he couldn't remember ever asking her if she'd even _had_ a name! he'd just called her Honey Eyes all this time.

"How do I know I can trust you with her feelings?" Dad asked, getting back on topic, "To be her anchor? To keep her attached to this world?"

"Because _she_ trusts me," said Jack, "That might not be enough for you, but it's the best I've got. Now I've got a question for _you_." He held his staff in both hands and moved into a sideways pose. "Are we gonna keep doing this dance or have I worn you down?"

Neither said anything for a while; Dad looked like he was coming to a decision, so Jack stayed quiet.

"All right, Jack," he finally said softly, "You want to dance?" He swept his arm up and sent a wave crashing into Jack that knocked him right out of the crow's nest! He tried to recover, but it hit him again and slammed him onto the deck. His body bounced away like a skipping stone while the boat rocked. Water was spilling over in buckets and the fishermen were scrambling to tie stuff down before it got any worse. Jack staggered to his feet just in time to see Dad striding toward him with wind and water whooshing around him.

"Let me show you how we dance on the Great Lakes!"

* * *

**Author's Review****:**  
In case there's any confusion, let me explain something about the conversation…

Dad was totally lying about Joanna being dead. After she changed and lived in the house in Saginaw, he kept watch over her, unseen and unheard (for reasons my inner muse has declined to explain…because she can't). When she left, he was unable to follow her because he is physically bound to the Great Lakes area and can never stray far from his post.

The logic behind the teeth was that if she was really dead, there would be no need to hold onto them. I'm going on the idea that all spirits know the value and function of lost teeth (Dad certainly does) and even though baby stuff has sentimental value, Joanna left no baby stuff behind. If you're wondering how Dad got a hold of those teeth, you'll have to wait a few more chapters. Sorry.

Oh, the song was a parody of the original famous pirate song. I made up the words myself! Whoop! (It's supposed to sneak in details) The tit-willow song is from _The Mikado_, the most famous play Gilbert and Sullivan ever made! WATCH IT! IT'S AWESOME! Try to watch the one with Martyn Greene in it; that's the good one.

Okay, the pose I strike for Joanna hugging Bunnymund's head is from _Captive Hearts_, the manga written by the same chick that did _Vampire Knight_. The image is in volume 3, towards the end. It's one of the bonus pics and it's SO ADORABLE! LOOK IT UP!

I think that's it for now; if anybody needs any more explanations, please feel free to ask! See you next time!


	16. Cold War

Something I forgot to mention about the end of the last chapter: That's not the first time I've used a dance reference as an intimidation tool against the hero! The first time was in "I Hate Teenage Drama," one of my Kingdom Hearts stories. It was pretty awesome, if I say so myself. ^_^

This fight scene won't be as long as some of my previous ones, but it does promise to be pretty intense. I tried to use the right adjectives to make you feel what Jack is feeling. I hope I did it right. Please enjoy!

* * *

_"Say it, Frank! Say I'm a man!"_ – Rod, _Hot Rod_

* * *

**Chapter 15: Cold War**  
_'It's about __**time**__ things picked up!'_ Jack thought as Dad charged him. It was strange, but he actually felt relieved that they were finally getting it on.

He thought this for two reasons: One—this was more up his Guardian alley and two—it made it easier not to care about the dad's feelings. He'd made an awfully convincing argument as well as struck more than one nerve in Jack's heart. This way, he could put his defenses back up and fight for Joanna, whose feelings mattered more to him than words could say.

"You want those teeth so much?" said Dad as he threw another wave at him, "You're gonna fight me for them!"

Jack's staff glowed like a lightsaber; he swung it around himself, froze the water around him and shattered it by slamming the staff into it.

But there was _way_ more water where that came from and Dad wasn't even _close_ to getting started. Another wave swept Jack off his feet but this time he managed to fly out of it and zap him in the shoulder. Dad made a couple of water whips and started trying to hit Jack out of the air, but he flitted around the mast like a fairy. It was a game of Extreme Whack-A-Mole for a while.

"Ha, ha!" Jack laughed as he dodged, "If only Sandy could see me now!"

He felt a tap on his shoulder and fell victim to a classic blunder by turning back to get punched hard in the face by a giant water fist to rival The Incredible Hulk. It knocked him down and before he could recover, Dad followed up by lacing his hands together and making another one that looked like his hands did; he brought it down on the poor boy like a professional wrestler and knocked him further down! Jack glanced to his right and saw something that stopped his heart.

He wasn't on the boat! He was _beside_ it!

He had just enough breath to scream out a panicked _**"**__**NO**__**!"**_ before he hit the water.

* * *

Jack was never sure which part of being underwater scared him most: The dark, the cold, or the stifling silence. He'd never tried to find out whether or not he could drown, but he definitely felt he was and the fear that clutched his heart as he instinctively scrambled upwards was colder than anything he or Dad could come up with.

Flashes of his death played in and out of his mind's eye like will-o-the-wisps in a dark forest, trying to distract him from his quest. He fought hard to maintain control and looked around frantically for his staff; he kept hearing his sister's voice calling his name but then a shadow moved over him—it was Dad floating right above him, waiting for him to make a move—and his sister's voice turned into his girlfriend's!

_"__JACK__!"_

Not only was it loud, but it somehow infused him with power as well. It didn't remove the fear; it changed it into a defense weapon.

_'All right, Grandpa!'_ he thought, pumped up, _'You asked for it!'_

His hair and eyes began to shine brightly; he grabbed his staff from nearby and it glowed again. Dad cocked a curious eyebrow and watched as the younger man curled himself around his staff like a kebab. His chest began to glow blue, too! The water around them rushed like a whirlpool and he glowed brighter and brighter until his hidden power burst forth in a blue sphere that exploded to the surface! The fishermen were terrified; they thought someone had managed to smuggle a torpedo into the Lakes! Dad floated on his back and stared up at him in shock, but Jack wasn't done yet. He smacked his staff and whomped him with his icy blue chill. Dad flew up and came charging at him with wind and rain, but Jack hit him again and the fringes of the blast froze the raindrops. They fell like hailstones onto the boat and the fishermen shouted and cursed again.

Jack swung his staff down to hit Dad but Dad stopped it, finding himself in a two-man bench press.

"I wouldn't if I were you!" Jack warned. The staff blasted Dad's hands away and blew him backwards; Jack swung behind him and batted him towards the shore, where a wave was crashing on the rocks. Dad came back with that wave while it still rolled. Not only did Jack jump up, but he freeze-surfed on top of it with his staff digging into it. He had a split second to appreciate how cool it looked before an even bigger wave smashed it like a Lego bridge.

"This isn't a snowball fight, Jack!" said Dad, "If you're gonna talk like a man, you've got to fight like one!"

Suddenly his wet clothes were frozen and his body flung itself backwards against his will and against something hard and the ice spread out to cover him like a spider web. A beam of light passed over him and he found himself frozen to the lighthouse. Jack popped up in front of him.

"You were saying?" he smiled smugly. A wave hit him from behind like a train wreck; he slowly turned against the force with his staff lit, but the water knocked the butt against the ice holding Dad and shattered it; he instantly grabbed Jack by the back of his hoodie, dragged him up, and threw him out of the water and into the lighthouse! His body crashed through the glass and rolled up to the giant searchlight. He grabbed his staff and jumped up into his defense pose. He looked around the darkness outside like an animal listening for an oncoming car, but he could only hear the storm on the lake. Just above his head, the light was turning steadily but he still had to du k a bit from its shine.

Pitch would've loved this guy, Jack thought. He fought mean and he fought hard. He was as deadly physically as Pitch was mentally.

A small sound caught his ear and he spun around to be blinded by the huge light! With a short scream he clapped a hand over his eyes. Something tripped him and he fell on his face; his right hand was held down at the wrist in a cold hard hand, his left in a half Nelson, and knee was nailing his back, forcing his face to the floor.

"You're about as easily distracted as a squirrel with ADHD," said the father.

"And you're about as stubborn as a constipated mule," Jack replied through gritted teeth. It wasn't a very cool line, but it was all he could think to say with the pickle he was in. "So now what? You hold me here until I give up and go home with my tail between my legs?"

"I think we both know that's not gonna happen, Frost," said Dad, "You're bent on having these teeth and you'll fight as long as you have to for them…for her."

Jack caught the change in his tone and stopped resisting, but Dad didn't let go.

"Listen to me," he continued, "I don't know what changed you into Jack Frost, or how, but you used to be human, didn't you?" Jack shot him a weird look as best as he could form his position.

"What's that got to do with anything?" he asked.

"Everything," Dad answered, "You were a human before you were Jack Frost and you brought that humanity with you into your current life. Your body may be frozen in time, but your heart still beats. It remembers what it was like to love." He shook his head. "But it's not like that for us, Jack. It never was. Spirits like me just don't think the way you do. When my wife and I get together, it's like a business meeting. We get along, but we don't love each other. We don't know how. It's just not in us."

"What's your point, old man?" Jack asked irritably.

"I'm getting to it," he bit off, "Now listen. My wife and I…we were created by Nature herself. We exist only to be the weather. Our purpose is different. We didn't start out as mortal beings like you did, or Santa or the Tooth Fairy. You all have feelings we never had a chance to feel. It's your hearts, Jack. Your human hearts are stronger than ours. You've more than proven that tonight. From what you tell me, my daughter—Joanna—seems to have gained some humanity of her own. That's more than she had with us, I'll tell you that.

"So I'm taking a gamble on you," he finished as he released him, "both of you. I'm going to bet on your humanity and the love you obviously share. I'm going to trust the strength of your hearts. Maybe she can handle them now."

"You had to kick my butt to figure that out?" Jack said as eh retrieved his staff.

"I wanted your money where your mouth is," said Dad, "Can't blame a dad for testing a suitor, can you?"

"I came to get teeth, not Daddy's blessing," Jack grumbled.

"Keep it up and you'll get neither," Dad cut him off and walked past him, "Follow me."

He obeyed and flew close behind on his own wind.

"Another reason for this," Dad said over the wind, "is that I'm not used to fighting like that. I'm used to ships and rain yielding to the winds I blow out. I can tell you've fought before; _you_ could go all night, but I sure can't. If I didn't give, you'd have beaten me eventually but I've still got a job to do and I can't do it if I've had the crap beaten out of me."

He led him to a dark and old Victorian house a few miles inland that looked like the fancy cousin of the Amityville house.

"This is where she stayed the first five years after she changed," Dad explained as they landed out front, "Did she tell you about it?"

"Yeah," said Jack, "She said it always felt like it was haunted or something."

"It _is_ haunted," said Dad, "by me." They walked up the porch steps and the front door creaked eerily. "I do the old ghost bit now and then—poltergeist activity. I scare folks away, I come and go as I please, and I use the place as I see fit."

"And Immigration is none the wiser," Jack smirked as they trooped upstairs. Dad hid his own smile.

"One of the many perks of being a spirit." He led him to a room in the back of the hallway that looked like a girl Jo's age would've used. On top of a bureau dresser was a small hopechest; Dad pulled out a cord he was wearing from under his shirt on which was a little brass key. After looking at it in his hand, he sighed heavily and fit it into the keyhole. With some small difficulty, the lock clicked and he carefully lifted the lid.

The chest was very old and smelled musty; there was only one item resting inside it, a fist-sized drawstring bag made of worn leather. Dad took another moment before he reached in and turned to Jack with it in his hand. For only six teeth, Jack thought it looked kind of heavy. Dad gripped it for a second in a way that reminded Jack of when he handed his staff over to Pitch. He then tossed it to him and it felt heavy, too.

"Can I ask you something?" he said. Dad nodded and he asked, "If you're so heartless, how come you seem to love Joanna so much?"

"I don't know," he shrugged and smiled sadly, "I guess I'm the Dobby of my kind. Maybe that's what led to her downfall."

"Her downfall?" Jack said weirdly, "What do you mean?" Dad gave him that hard look again.

"I wasn't lying when I said she jumped," he warned, "Remember that, Jack. I held onto these memories for a reason."

Jack's neck prickled; was he screwing with his head or was it possible that his Joanna had actually attempted suicide?

Then he remembered.

_"I wanted to die so much I could hardly breathe."_

Jack took a half-step back. It was the first sign of fear he'd shown him. He looked disturbed.

"What are you trying to-?"

"Git," Dad jerked his head at the window, "I've said all I'm gonna say about it, and too much at that. You've got what you came for; now get off my Lakes and this time, _stay_ off. And Jack?"

The young man stopped halfway out the window; the wind howled outside. Joanna's father had a tense look of impending doom.

"Don't you dare say I didn't warn you," he threatened, "and don't you _**dare**_ leave her side for an instant!"

"That I can promise," Jack nodded, "Later, Pops."

Dad stood on the roof and watched his daughter's champion fly away on the wind; he prayed that the boy's human heart was stronger than hers had been before, back when it was a hollow shell at best. He prayed that the strength of his love and the solidity of humanity would keep her standing.

He swept back into the room and looked around at the gloom and dust. He sat down on the bed with a heavy sigh and waited, knowing it was only a matter of time.

* * *

**Author's Review****:**  
A matter of time before what, exactly? You'll find out, but not for another couple of chapters. Ha, ha!

So…yeah. Short fight scene, probably not one of my best. I think my best fight scene was the battle against The Heartless in "The Hunt for the Hearts," when they plowed their way through a Heartless-infested Radiant Garden. Now THAT was emotional! I encourage Kingdom Hearts fans to read that one if you're interested!

About Jack's underwater moment: There were two ways that scene could've gone. One was the way it actually went and the other involved a recap of the famous "Darkness" thing, but it felt like a cheap imitation, so I went with the other one.

I hope y'all don't hate Dad too much; he's a bit of an A-hole, and it's pretty arrogant of him to decide that HE trusts Joanna with her own memories, but let's admit it: Wouldn't we all do something like that to protect our kids? I don't have any, but I know how I'd feel if I did.

Oh, and that thing about Immigration is a Canadian joke. Dad's a Canadian cold front, remember? ;D

So did y'all enjoy that? Break out the tissues next chapter, 'cause this will probably freak you out on an emotional level. See y'all!


	17. Misty Watercolored Memories

_**SUPER-AWESOME ANNOUNCEMENT**__**: I, SAMURAISTAR, AM GOING TO ANIME WEEKEND ATLANTA 2013!**_

That's right, y'all! I'm going to my very first convention ever—AWA! If all goes well, I'm going as my own version of Lady Loki (only with way more physical coverage, if you get my drift); if all doesn't go well, I've got a green Elizabeth Bennett dress that will make a nice Plan B! (That's the Keira Knightley version)

Are any of y'all going to be there, too? I hope so! I hope we can all get together and compare notes and actually have a face-to-face conversation! LOL I'm crazy-excited about this convention! TODD HABERKORN IS GONNA BE THERE! AAAAAH! Seriously: Anyone who's going, send me a review and we can plan something, I hope! I really hope I can get my Lady Loki costume ready by then, too, so wish me luck!

At long last, here is the pivotal chapter where everything is all laid out for all the world to see! Most of y'all have probably figured it out already, but I think you'll still enjoy how it all plays out!

GET READY, GET READY, GET READY!

* * *

_"Ones to painful to remember, we simply choose to forget."_ – Barbara Streisand, _The Way We Were_

* * *

**Chapter 16: Misty Water-colored Memories**  
"Joanna," Jamie croaked sleepily, "What's going on?"

He was at the top of the stairs with his stuffed bunny in one hand while the other was rubbing his eyes; it was 5 a.m. Joanna met him halfway.

"Your mom had to go to work super early today," she said quietly.

"_What?_" he popped.

"Ssh, you'll wake Sophie," she whispered with her hands palm-down.

"But why didn't she tell me?" Jamie whispered back.

"She didn't want to wake you up," she answered, "She said she'll be home early."

Jamie sighed and slouched; Jo knelt on the steps and looked at his tired, slightly dewy eyes.

"I'm sorry, Jamie," she whispered and touched his face, "Why don't I take you back to bed?"

"Can I sleep with you?" he asked pitifully. Call her weak, but Joanna never could say no to a child in such a state, especially Jamie.

"Sure," she nodded and took his hand, "Come on."

Some of the light came back to his eyes as they climbed back upstairs, then both their heads snapped up at the sound of a crash and a rolling thump.

Jamie whispered, "What was that?" at the same time that Jo pulled him behind her and said, "Stay behind me." A soft orb of light appeared in her free hand; it was one of her own powers that she usually channeled through weapons like guns and arrows, but her handgun was in her footlocker and the commotion was in her room! It had also been yellow, but since becoming Jack's Companion, it was now yellow coated with blue sparkles that matched the shine on her necklace. She was so keyed up she didn't notice it was radiating.

"Stay there, Jamie." She stopped him by the door, readied her glowing hand, and burst into the room! Jamie spun around on a reflex with his eyes pinched shut and his back to the door. Instead of a fight, he heard his nanny gasp and softly exclaim, "Jack!" That made him straighten up and run inside.

"Jack!" he added as he ran to help Jo sit him up. "What happened?"

"He collapsed through the window," she explained, "Rough landing, huh?"

Jack winced as he leaned against the footboard of her bed.

"That did _not_ go at all like I planned," he chuckled.

"The trip or the homecoming?" Jo smirked.

"The homecoming," he said, "I was trying to go for a Peter Pan kind of thing."

"So what happened?" Jamie repeated. Jack smiled at him.

"I saw the house and realized how tired I was," he said.

"What were you doing?" the child asked. Jack glanced at Joanna for a second.

"Gettin' my butt kicked," he shrugged, "No big."

"You _fought_ him?" she said fearfully, "Did he hurt you?"

"Who?" said Jamie excitedly, "Who'd you fight, Jack?"

"Jo's dad," said Jack, "And before you ask anymore, Jamie, it's an incredibly long story and you've got school today."

"Mom went to work early," the boy explained as Jo helped Jack up, "so Jo said I could sleep here with her."

"Think we can make room for one more?" said Jo as she put Jack in the bed, "I think Jack's exhausted."

"Jo, wait," said Jack as he tried to sit up.

"Lay back, Jack," she stopped him and gently pushed him back down. He caught her hand and she stopped. He turned her hand up and placed a small, worn leather drawstring bag in it. She gasped softly and looked at him.

"Is this…?"

"Yeah." He covered the bag with his hand. "But, Jo," he said, "we're gonna have to talk about these."

"Okay," she nodded and put it in the drawer of her sidetable, "Let's talk later." Only then did Jack relax and smile with relief. Jo knelt by him and stroked his hair while Jamie crawled up by him.

"You took a beating for me," she murmured, "Thank you." He laced his fingers through hers and the two hands came between them. The way he looked at her made her blush deeply. Jamie looked weirdly at the two of them.

"Um, guys?" he asked, "Are you dating?"

The two young adults chuckled sheepishly and Jack turned over to look at Jamie.

"That's another long story," he said, "but yeah. We're dating now."

"Cool," Jamie smiled, "Wait till I tell my friends." He flopped down next to Jack as Jo settled in with them. Jamie huddled close to him, grabbed Jo's hand, and draped it over his own shoulder, holding it there firmly until he dropped off to sleep. Jo stole a glance at Jack's face; he had a faraway look in his eyes.

"Where are you?" she half-smiled.

"Some place that doesn't exist anymore," he murmured, "A small house by the pond…(He slipped his fingers into hers) with my family." They looked each other in the eyes for a moment.

"From back then?" she guessed.

"Back then," he said, squeezing her hand, "and now."

A moment of silent communication passed between them as the Moon covered them in a soft blanket of his light. Jack smiled sleepily at her until he finally fell asleep; his last feeling was the warmth from Jo's hand that crept through him. That must've been the same power she'd used on Jamie that first night.

Jo smiled softly; there was something about sleeping boys that was just so darn precious, especially on such a beautiful face as Jack's. She admitted to herself that had it not been for Jamie lying between them…well, she wasn't quite sure she could trust herself.

Before too long, she joined her favorite boys in Dreamland.

* * *

She came back after getting Jamie and Sophie to school and preschool. He was still in her bed, only now he was lounging and speedreading her copy of _Twilight_ with a hilariously weirded out expression.

"I hate to admit it," he said without looking up as she came over, "but the similarities are eerily bizarre." She giggled and kissed him on the cheek as she sat by him.

"If it makes you feel any better," she smiled, "you're way sexier than Edward Cullen—or _any_ Cullen, for that matter."

"Thanks," he chuckled as he closed the book, "It did make me think, though." He flopped down onto the pillow and she followed suit. "Like, what if we'd met back then?"

"What _was_ 'back then' for you, exactly?" she asked.

"Early 18th century," he said, "back when the States were still the Colonies."

"You're Colonial?" she said, awestruck, "I really _am_ a baby compared to you!"

"Yeah," he smiled and faced upward, "Back then, I would've pulled every trick on you in the book. Eventually I'd have made you realize I only annoyed you because I liked you." Jo smiled as he talked. "Then we'd have done the picnic-and-poetry bit…or at least, _you_ would've done the poetry bit. I don't think I knew how to read back then. The only kissing we would've gotten us was behind a tree, and only small, stolen ones. After a while I'd be at your house, begging your dad to let me marry you."

Jo's face turned blood red at the word "marry."

"Hopefully he would've said yes," he finished, "and we'd get married in the little white church and everybody in town would've built us a cottage."

"That sounds so nice," she sighed dreamily, "Nicer than _my_ time, anyway. The 70s—actually, the 60s and 70s—had the Free Love generation. You know—Love the One You're With and all that. Everybody was turning on, tuning in, and dropping out. People were getting divorced right, left and center. Kids were tripping on acid and LSD and getting themselves killed. The ones our age were having meaningless sex with people they didn't even know. The _true_ meaning of love was lost on them. (…) But I did enjoy the music! And the TV shows!"

Jack chuckled and held her hand.

"We probably would've run off to Vegas or something," he commented.

"Bleh," she said, "I'm glad we got together now instead. Did you sleep okay?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, "I kind of sleep on instinct. No matter how much sleep I get, it's always enough."

"Well, good," she said, "I was afraid Dad might have hurt you."

"He did give me a run for my money," he admitted, "but he wasn't nearly as bad as Pitch."

"You want something to eat?" she said, "Get your strength back?"

"Sure," he smiled.

"Great!" she piped and jumped up, "You stay there and relax!"

Jack watched her scamper out and looked around the room. This whole morning was so normal, so ordinary—sleeping, talking in bed, and now breakfast. He loved it.

Jo came back with orange juice and cinnamon rolls; they sat together on the floor in the light that spilled through the window. They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes while her ipod softly played.

"You know, if you wanted," he said casually, "I bet North could marry us."

"Mmf!" Joanna choked on her OJ. Jack grinned with amusement.

"I-I'm sorry," she rasped, "What did you just say?"

"I was just thinking," he shrugged, "if you wanted to marry me, we could probably get North to do a ceremony for us."

She just stared blankly at him for a minute.

"Are you proposing to me?" she finally asked with shock.

"Yeah," he said, looking a little worried now, "That's not a problem, is it? I mean…you will marry me, won't you?"

"I…It's…" she stammered with her face getting redder every second, "I didn't know you were the marrying type." He shrugged one shoulder.

"I didn't know I was the Guardian type," he half-smiled sheepishly and looked at her, "I know it's a bit out of left field, but…there was a moment last night before you woke up, when we were all together in your bed like that and I…" He hesitated. Joanna sensed he was admitting her onto sacred ground and scooted closer to hold his hands. "I let myself pretend that you _were_ my family—you and Jamie." He squeezed her hands as if he'd jumped from somewhere expecting her to catch him. She squeezed back as if she had and let him finish.

"I don't want to pretend anymore, Joanna," he said, "I know Jamie's not ours…and we probably won't be able to have any kids of our own…(Now they were _both_ blushing)…but even if it's just the two of us…even if we can't _make_ a family, I want us to _be_ a family."

Joanna forgot how to breathe as she watched the boy she'd loved since childhood declare himself to her. He got up on his knees and lovingly took her face in his hands. He delicately moved her bangs out of her sparkling honey eyes and smiled into them.

"I love you," he said tenderly, "I want to marry you. That's the only thing I care about."

"Ever since we met," her voice wavered as tears flowed forth, "all I've wanted was to be with you. Everything I've done since my changing…every family I've worked for, every child I've ever cared for, all of it was a step on my path that the moon lit for me. He took away my memories, but he gave me back your name. He knew I loved you and that I'd fall in love with you all over again. He knew right where to lead me and he led me here to you." She covered his hands.

"It was for you, Jack," she smiled through her tears, "From the very beginning, it was always meant to be you. I came here in search of my destiny and I found it in you." Her voice failed her and she started sobbing with the joy of a traveler coming to the end of a long journey. Jack gently took hold of her shoulders and buried his lips in her hair. His heart hadn't pounded so hard since the Nightmare Battle.

"You're not alone on that path anymore," he murmured. She looked up at him as he said, "We can walk it together now, you and me." She smiled again.

"Well, then," she said and wiped her eyes, "Let's take the first step." He went wide-eyed.

"Is that a yes?" he asked. She laughed a bit and nodded, too choked up to get the "yes" out. He started laughing as well, overwhelmed at her acceptance, and he grabbed her and kissed her passionately as snowflakes began to fill the room. He kissed each one that fell on her face and by the time they thought to look around, the whole room was white.

"Uh-oh," she giggled, "How am I gonna explain this to Mrs. Bennett?"

"Tell her the truth," he shrugged, "Tell her Jack Frost did it." They laughed happily; Jo laid flat on the floor and Jack followed suit, facing opposite with his head touching hers. They stayed that way together and watched the snowflakes as they continued to swirl in.

"This is just like the park in Green Bay," she recalled with a smile, "only Dad's not here to chase you off this time. (…) Speaking of Dad," she asked, "How was he?"

"More or less the same as he used to be," Jack half-shrugged, "Gray, gloomy, hardcore. I think he misses you, which is apparently unusual for spirits in his department."

"Yeah, I remember," Jo nodded and looked at him, "Jack?" He turned his face to her, bracing himself for the question. "What did he say about the teeth?"

Jack sighed grimly; he couldn't begin to imagine what childhood horrors had been hidden from her for so long, but the memories belonged only to her and the decision to take them back (or not) would be up to her. He remembered what it was like to be in her position and he wouldn't wish it on anyone. If there was any way to get her out of it, Jack would stop at nothing to set her free.

He got up silently, retrieved the oddly heavy bag of teeth and knelt to her again. She was up already and watched him attentively.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, Jo," he said seriously, "They're bad. Like, extremely bad. He wouldn't tell me what they were, but your dad said they were 'the stuff of nightmares.' Those were his words."

Jo felt goosebumps and for some reason she could hear the rush of water in her ears when she looked at that small bag.

"Nightmares, huh?" she said nervously, her heart pounding.

"Yeah," he nodded, "He said they were memories no kid should ever have."

"Then why did he finally hand them over?" she asked.

"He said something about trusting the strength of our human hearts," he answered, "He thinks you might be able to take it now that you're well-established in the world…whatever 'it' is."

"So he was protecting me this whole time," she said and looked at the bag, "He kept them from me and all the Tooth Fairies because he wanted to keep me happy."

"And alive," Jack added darkly. She whipped her head up in shock.

"_What?_" she popped.

"Remember what you told me about you floating in one of the Lakes?" he said.

"Yeah…" she said with hesitant fear. He held one of her trembling hands.

"Your dad told me," he said tensely, "that he saw you jump. He says you treid to drown yourself."

Jo covered her mouth in horror.

"Why would I…" Her voice cracked with misty eyes. "Why would I try to drown myself?"

"I don't know," Jack shook his head, hating himself for doing this to her, "but your dad sure did and I'm willing to bet that memory is in here." He pointed at the bag on the floor between his knees. She looked very worried now and the noise in her ears was louder. She swallowed.

"Looks like I've got a choice to make," she said.

"You don't have to make it now," he said and squeezed her hand, "You've got the teeth right here." He held up the bag. "You can take as long as you need or not at all."

"After all you went through to get them?"

"I don't care about that," Jack put a hand up, "I only wanted you to have the choice." He touched her face. "It doesn't make any difference to me. You're my Companion for life." He smiled. "And that's an awfully long life." She smiled and blushed.

"In that case," she said bravely, "I'll open it tonight after everyone's asleep."

"You're sure?" he asked and took her hands again.

"Yes," she said steadily with her face set, "As long as you're with me, I can do it." There was no fluff in that statement, only the strength of her trust in him. Jack held her close with his chin on her head; he was so proud of her.

"I will _always_ be with you, Joanna," he said fervently, "I'll never leave you again." Jo buried her face on him and closed her eyes. "Thank you," she murmured.

* * *

Tooth tapped on the window pane with her fingernail while Baby Tooth flitted across and tapped with her beak. Joanna whipped the curtains open and looked happily surprised.

"Tooth!" she chimed as she let her in, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, when Jack told me about your Grand Opening, I just _had_ to zip over!" Tooth answered, her feathers fluffing out with excitement. Evidently, Jack hadn't told her what kind of memories were about to be unveiled. He must have called her over for extra emotional support. "And hey! Check it out!" She showed off her right hand.

"Oh, you're wearing it!" Jo smiled with delight. The ruby ring was shining in the moonlight.

"Of course," Tooth smiled back, "I told you I love rubies."

"Come on in!" Jo beamed and towed her in by the hand. "I'm waiting for a while until I'm sure everyone's asleep."

"Good idea," said Tooth as she perched on the footboard of the bed. She looked over at the small bag lying in the middle.

"Jo," she asked with slight concern, "are they in that bag?"

"Yeah." Jo caught the tone in her voice. "You got the vibe too, huh?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Definitely," Jo said resolutely, "and not just because of all the effort Jack went through to get them or the fact that my dad trusts us with them." She draped her hands over the board. "If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it for me. Not for Dad, not for the Bennetts, not even for Jack. Those memories are mine, for good or ill, and now I'm taking them back." She looked at back her with a smile. "As long as I have Jack, I can handle anything."

"That's my girl," Tooth beamed and stroked her face with her thumb. Baby Tooth squeaked enthusiastically and flew through her hair, making her giggle.

"You're cute, Baby Tooth," she smiled and held her in her hands, "Thanks for coming." The tiny fair hugged her thumb and squeaked in reply. Jack came in just then and she left Jo's hands for his.

"Thanks a lot for coming over, Tooth," he said, "Jo, are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Not really," she said and gripped his hand, "but I'm going to anyway, before I lose my nerve." She stepped onto her bed and sat down Indian style. Still holding her hand, Jack hopped over next to her on her left and Tooth knelt on her right with a hand across her shoulders.

"We're right beside you, Jo," said Jack as his heart beat nervously.

"All the way," Tooth added.

"Thanks, you guys," Jo smiled bravely and looked down at the worn, brown leather bag that had lain in darkness for 38 years, heavy with the burden of her lost memories. She let go of Jack's hand to pick it up and he wrapped his arms around her waist; after a deep breath, Joanna braced herself and opened the bag.

The roar of water and wind took her breath away as she watched a boat being tossed like a cork on Lake Michigan. She could hear herself as a baby laughing and clapping as she danced around it on the water with her mother while her father watched from a few feet away. As the boat went down to the cheers of her parents, the name _SS Carl D. Bradley_ lit up with a crack of lightning. Joanna was terrified, but she didn't understand what this had to do with her until she flashed forward to 1959, when the _SS Brown Brothers_ sank in Lake Erie, immediately followed by the _SS Francisco Moran_ on Lake Michigan again in 1960. She was only three years old then and was calling, "Daddy! Daddy! I made the boat go down!" and Dad calmly saying, "Yes, you did!"

Her heart stopped.

"I made the boat go down," she whispered. She heard Jack say, "What?" but didn't answer. She just stared helplessly into space as the deleted scenes of her childhood continued to play out before her eyes. She saw her eight-year-old self in May of '65 on the cement railing of the street that ran along Lake Huron, where the _SS Cedarville_ had met its demise only the day before. Her father had come along and asked her what she was doing. "See that little girl down there?" she'd asked glumly, "She's crying because her daddy was on that ship I sank."

"No!" she choked on a sob. Jack held her tighter and Tooth grabbed her hand and her shoulder. Joanna watched herself sink the _SS Daniel J. Morrell_ in 1966, also on Lake Huron…and then, on November 10, 1975, came the big one: At the age of eighteen, Joanna sank the _SS Edmund Fitzgerald_ in the dark, cold, gray waters of Lake Superior. There had been 29 men on that ship; not one of them had survived.

When Jo blinked herself back to the present, she was shaking and sobbing. She looked at the bag and swatted it away like a carrier of the plague.

"Joanna!" said Jack, "What's wrong?" She mumbled her answer through her shock. "What did you say?" She turned her head to him; he looked blurry to her.

"Oh, Jack," she sobbed, "I'm the Witch of November!" She spun back and nearly threw herself from the bed, but Tooth blocked her and clutched her in her arms while Joanna clung to her for dear life. Tooth was sprawled against the wall under the window and she seemed to feel her pain as if it were her own because she cried with her with less intensity but no less emotion. Jack knelt to them just as Joanna screamed into Tooth's feathers; though they muffled the volume, it still chilled him to the bone. It was as if her very soul was being ripped in half.

"Jo…" he breathed as he reached out.

"No, Jack!" Tooth burst out in a panic, "Don't take her yet!"

"What?" Jack jumped back, perplexed. Baby Tooth hovered next to him.

"I can't let go of her, Jack," Tooth shook her head, "Not yet."

"Why not?" he asked, sounding spooked. She looked down at Joanna.

"Because," she said pitifully and kept crying, "if I let her go now…(her broken voice dropped to a whisper) she might break!"

* * *

Her cry may not have been loud in the room, but it was filled with such fear and anguish and so many other painful emotions that it pierced through the soil itself and nearly knocked the Bogeyman off his feet!

"Whoa—ho!" he laughed with surprise, "Now _what_ was _that?_" His Nightmare herd was all stirred up by the scream and began pawing impatiently at the ground. One of them neighed.

"Yes, my darlings!" he answered excitedly, "By all means, go! Scour the earth and find me the source of all that pain and fear! But take care the Guardians don't catch you!" The Nightmares reared and screamed as they galloped away in all directions.

"Such a source of fear will be perfect," Pitch crooned to himself, "for my little project."

* * *

**Author's Review****:**  
I'm so excited about AWA I can hardly concentrate on the chapter! LOL But I'll try!

Tooth holding Jo was one of those first moments I envisioned for this story, as is the inevitable kidnapping ('cause you all know it's coming!).

I apologize for any historical inaccuracies, but it's for the sake of the story (and it's fan fiction, so it's not that big a deal). And I hope I didn't offend anyone who grew up during the 60s and/or 70s. I'm just going on what my mom has told me and what I perceive from all those old shows on MeTV. At the time I handwrote the chapter I was watching a lot of Dragnet and Adam-12. I still watch them, but they were particularly stuck in my head here.

I accidentally put in another Tangled reference with Jo's mumbled reply! LOL Love it!

So now y'all know the truth! The cat (REOW) is out of the bag! Joanna sank six ships in her lifetime (in THIS story, anyway) and now it's coming back to bite her in the butt!

Oh, another movie reference: Jack's proposal is an almost exact reference to "Somewhere In Time," starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour—except in THAT story, the girl's the one who was all like "You are gonna marry me, right?" I thought I'd reverse it this time because anyone who's familiar with my work knows that I absolutely LOVE a good marriage proposal!

But yeah: I'M GOING TO AWA! Anyone who's going to be there, PLEASE review and let me know! I've always wanted to get together with other writers and have a total fan fiction geek fest! If you have any advice about it or you just want to give me a thumbs-up, drop a review on me! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! It'll be a little while before I update since I'm getting ready for the convention and everything, so I hope you understand.

But I promise you this: The next chapter is probably going to tear you up—if this one didn't already. ;) See ya next time! TODD HABERKORN!


	18. The Chapter Where It All Makes Sense

I don't usually do this, and I really didn't want to, but my inner muse grabbed me by the throat and demanded that I upload another chapter! So you can thank her, not me! I would've waited till after the convention, but she was all like "Nope! We're doing this now!"

The reason I didn't want to is because it's too close to the point where I left off in my notebook and I prefer to have it all written before I type. So…I probably should've thought it through better before I even started uploading, but that's just my human folly.

Oh, great news: MY COSTUME'S READY! I'M GOING TO AWA AS LADY LOKI! I'm on Pinterest, so I'll be putting up tons of pictures; I might even try to shoot a video for you guys! I'm also on Tumblr as samuraistar05, in case anyone does that. I'm still trying to figure out the app, though; I feel like Captain America on the floating headquarters ("It seems to run on some sort of electricity!). LOL So if you have a lot of patience, check out my Tumblr!

Okay, before (or maybe after) you read this chapter, I STRONGLY recommend that you go on YouTube and look up the video used here. It's entitled "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and was made by **Joseph Fulton**. YOU HAVE TO WATCH THAT ONE. The chapter will probably make more sense if you watch it either before or after you read this. It's a fantastic video with awesome yet haunting footage and audio clips and cool stuff like that. So…yeah. Go watch it.

All right, I'm done with the jibber jabber, as Mr. T puts it. Please enjoy the chapter, watch the video, and wish me luck in Atlanta! (This is the last update you get until I come back. I leave this Friday, so that's a little more than a whole week away. But I'll take my noteboook with me in case the Muse descends!)

* * *

_"And in a heartbeat, the fear takes hold."_ – Steve Winwood, _Reach For The Light_ from _Balto_

* * *

**Chapter 17: The Chapter Where It All Makes Sense**  
"I…Tooth, I—I don't get it," said Jack, "What's the Witch of November?" His Companion was suffering in a way he'd never seen before and the fact that he had no idea why irritated him.

"Baby Tooth," she said quietly, "Bring me Joanna's iPod, please." The tiny fairy nodded with a squeak and brought her mistress the device. Tooth clicked on it for a bit, still holding a now-silent Joanna, and pulled up a video. After letting it load, she put it on the floor in front of Jack and pushed Play. The first image that came up was a 70s newsman in black-and-white.

_"An air and sea search is continuing for possible survivors of the __**Edmund Fitzgerald**__, a 729-foot ore carrier, which apparently broke apart and sank last night on Lake Superior. The ship and its 29-man crew vanished in a storm with 80 mile-an-hour winds and wave heights up to 25 feet. All that has been found is an oil slick and some debris."_

At that point a haunting intro had faded in, the beginning of the legendary ballad by Gordon Lightfoot that unfolded the tragic story in as much detail as the singer could get. Jack had known this song ever since it first came out, but the slow panning of the footage on the video, the big ship from before and after the wreck, not to mention the present mood in the room, all came together to give him goosebumps to the max.

_The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down  
on the big lake they call Gitche Gumee  
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead  
when the gales of November turn gloomy_

Every so often on the instrumental breaks, audio clips would play recorded transmissions from other ships and contact points in the surrounding areas, each voicing concerns about the welfare of the ill-fated freighter. From the sound of it, the ship simply seemed to have disappeared without a trace, forever lost to the light of day. By the time the storm had cleared up, it was just that. Superior had swallowed it completely and Joanna had fed it.

The air hung heavily in the room after the song faded out and the list of names had finished scrolling with each man's picture. No one moved; the iPod finally went dark on its own, leaving a cold and gloomy silence.

Finally Jack quietly said, "That's why it scared you so much."

By now Jo was kneeling by Tooth across from Jack.

"I remember now," she said thickly, "We started early that year, just like the song said. I, um…" She swallowed and moved her bangs. "I was nine when I sank the _Daniel J. Morrell_ and up until the _Fitzgerald_, I hadn't sunk any more since. But that year Dad came to me and expressly ordered that I sink a ship. I'd managed to save a few sailors a couple of times before; it was the only way I could get through it as a kid. I kept thinking, 'If I can just save one, maybe it'll be okay…'" She shook her head. "But Nature's a temperamental lady when she wants to be. I couldn't always save even one…and the _Fitzgerald_ just wasn't in the cards. At least, that's what my mother said. She never understood how I felt about 'the family business.' She never understood how I felt about _anything_; I must've gotten it from Dad. I hated sinking ships but the _Fitzgerald_…that was the last straw. The responsibility of having power over human life was a heavier burden than all _Edmund's_ cargo combined…and I just couldn't take it anymore.

"So that night, about an hour after the ship went down, I stood on the highest cliff I could find on the shoreline and said to my parents, 'I'm done. That's the last ship you'll ever make me sink. If you want the destruction to continue, then you'll have to have another kid, 'cause I'm not taking any more lives for you.' And before Dad could try to stop me, I closed my eyes and jumped. Next thing I knew, I was drifting among the _Fitzgerald's_ debris and the moon was all I could see."

Jack slipped his hands under hers and held them.

"This may not make you feel better, Joanna," said Tooth, "but you're not the first." The two looked surprised at her as she explained. "Your parents are as old as The Great Lakes themselves. They came into existence almost at the same time. Mother Nature created and commissioned them to rule those waters. Every once in a while they came together to concentrate their energy and create a child of their own, one capable of channeling their combined power. The name Witch of November probably started with the first settlers or even the Indians who lived there. It was the nickname for the child your parents created. There was always one at a time, always a daughter…and for some reason, none of them lived past the age of eighteen."

"Then what was so special about me?" Jo asked.

"You met Jack," she answered, nodding at the boy, "You made friends with him…You loved him. That's something not even your parents have."

"But why?" Jo pressed, "Why do I seem to be the only one in my family with any depth of feeling?"

"I don't know, honey," she shook her head, "That would be a question for your parents." Jo looked thoughtful.

"You're right," she said, "And it wouldn't be the only one, either." She checked the clock on her iPod. "9:30. If I leave now and go fast enough, I can be there in an hour."

"I hope you plan on taking me with you," said Jack. Joanna gripped his hand.

"You're still sticking with me?" she asked, "After finding out what I am?"

"What you _were_," he corrected.

"Jack," she said with her voice choked up, "I killed all those people—not just the ones on the _Fitzgerald._ I have drowned countless people before that. Some of those ships I snapped in half like a twig!" Hot tears began to pour. "I've ruined families and caused bankruptcy. I…I'm a monster!"

"Stop it," Jack said rather fiercely as he firmly grabbed her shoulders, "You just stop that right now. You're not a monster, Joanna. Not now or then. You were a little kid who didn't know better. Matter of fact, you didn't _have_ to know better; you learned it on your own and when you did, you fought against it. You obeyed your parents because you had to; that's okay when you're little. And yes, it's horrible that you did things like that to people. I can't deny that…but it wasn't all your fault. You were a force of Nature; how many forces of Nature do you think have ever grown a conscience? None that _I've_ ever seen, or any of us. Joanna…you fought against your fate. You defied Mother Nature! I don't know about you, but I think that's amazing! The fact that you did, that you even tried, means that you're better than the others—better than your parents, better than the Witches that came before you—heck, you're better than the ones who'll come _after_ you! And there will be more, Jo—_tons _more, long after all is said and done. There's nothing any of us can do about it. People are always going to die one way or another. I know that sounds emo, but it's the truth."

Jo hung her head; Jack cupped it and brought it to his face, scrambling in his mind for some way to make this better and coming up short. Tooth was watching them the whole time with a similar thought.

"Joanna," she said calmly, "whose opinion do you value most in the world?" Jo looked at her then at Jack.

"This guy right here," she said with a small smile.

"Jack," said Tooth, "your Companion seems to see herself as a monster. I want you to look at her and tell me what _you_ see."

With a touch as soft as snow, Jack tipped her chin and looked into her moonlit Honey Eyes for a good long moment. He didn't smile; his eyes did it for him.

"I see my family," he said softly. This overwhelmed Jo even more than his marriage proposal and she didn't even try to stop the tears from flowing. They looked like stars as they fell to the floor.

"In all of creation," she whispered wondrously, "has there ever been anyone like you?"

"_Like_ me? Probably." Jack leaned in and touched foreheads with her. "But there's only one Jack Frost, sweetheart, and he belongs to you." Baby Tooth fainted; Tooth scooped her up and hovered outside the window to let the lovers have their moment.

"Please don't push me away, Jo," he said with their hands entwined, "I want to help you through this."

"Jack, you've done so much for me already," she sighed.

"Better get used to it," he said seriously, "I'm always gonna do what I can for you. So please…tell me what I can do." She sighed again and leaned on his shoulder, facing the cracked door.

"For starters," she said, "you can help me chase off that Nightmare in the hall."

In an instant Jack was armed and on his feet and Jo had a pistol loaded with nothing but the light energy from her hand. Their movement startled the Nightmare and it backed away.

"I'll check Sophie's room," said Jo, "You take care of Jamie." They could hear commotion outside; Jo took a peek to see Tooth fighting off another one!

"It's not alone!" she said urgently, which sent Jack out of the room even faster. She followed quickly and slipped into Sophie's room like a ninja with her gun out like a cop. Sophie wasn't in her bed!

_"Sophie!"_ she hissed and rushed over. The small girl had once again fallen out of bed into her silly sleeping position. Jo chuckled with relief then heard a horse snort right behind her. On a reflex, she spun and shot; the gun had no bullets, so it only clicked, but the bullet of light pierced the Nightmare where its heart would've been and it exploded into dark dust. Unfortunately, there were a lot more coming in. Jo looked more confused than scared as she stood right over Sophie's sleeping body.

"Okay, there's no way a four-year-old can have this many Nightmares at once," she said, "What's going on here?"

One of the dark horses slowly walked towards her; the nanny looked it dead in the eye and aimed her pistol right in the middle of its forehead. The horse didn't stop.

"One more step and you're dead," she vowed. The Nightmare was close enough to smell her hand and it breathed deep, short breaths as it did. It was then she remembered the first and most important thing Jamie had told her about Nightmares.

They could smell fear.

"Get a good whiff?" she said. The Nightmare's ears angled and Jo said, "Uh-huh, that's what I thought. It's like a fine wine to you, isn't it? (She smirked.) _La tua cantante,_ eh? Better put that on the list, too. Well…" She glanced at the window. "I wouldn't consider 1975 a vintage year, but…drinks on the house!"

She bolted for the window, jumped and landed near Tooth in the yard. The Nightmares poured from Sophie _and_ Jamie's windows, followed by Jack as he zapped his way to the girls.

"Jack! They want me!" Jo said as they grabbed hands, "It's _my_ fear they smell this time!"

"I was afraid this might happen," Tooth fretted.

"Jack, call up your wind," said Jo, "If they follow me further away, we can beat them more easily!" Jack looked up at the sky.

"Well?" he called with a smile, "You heard the lady! Let's ride 'em out!"

Jack's winter wind swooped down, plucked them off their feet and sent them careening toward the woods with the small herd thundering on their heels a little too closely for Jack's taste. Jo's mind was occupied with protecting her family, but true fear lies in the heart and hers was a swirling torrent of pain and horror, which drove the Nightmares into a frenzy. It made her heart pound and she twined her hand in his. Sensing her growing panic, Jack gripped her hand back and ducked down, looped underneath, and shot straight up over the trees.

But these Nightmares were dogging their every move; they seemed to get faster as Jo's fear grew.

"I can't shake 'em!" he said in frustration.

"Then shoot 'em!" said Jo as she busted out her gun and started popping off. Jack followed suit with his staff and together they zipped around the air hand-in-hand. Tooth helped as best she could with her own Guardian grit.

Her heart went out to the two of them; they were fighting together, protecting each other and the children they loved. Except for her fellow Guardians, everyone was a child in Tooth's eyes and the ones above her were in terrible danger.

"Help me, Manny," she prayed fiercely as she bee-lined into the fray, _"Help me save these children!"_

With a battle cry she power-plowed her way through the herd just in time to destroy one heading right for Jo.

"Tooth!" said Jack, "You and Jo get out of the way! I'm gonna blast 'em!"

Before anyone could make a move, the Nightmares pulled back and started circled each other the way they had with Sandy. The result was one giant Nightmare.

"I didn't know they could do that," Jack said nervously.

"Oh, no," Tooth murmured, "Last time they swallowed my fairies, but…this one could swallow a person!"

_"Over my dead body!"_ Jack snapped as he charged the huge beast, his staff brimming with his hidden power. _"Eat this!"_ he shouted and prepared to swing but the Nightmare swung first with its massive head and batted him away, knocking his blast off balance. He immediately recovered and zoomed after it. Jo was backing up while shooting at it to no avail.

"RUN, JO!" he yelled. Tooth intercepted its path and socked it in the eye but it reared up quick and kicked her out of the way. Jo tried to make herself move, but she was too petrified. The creature coming at her was like nothing she'd ever seen before and the way its eyes peered into her made her feel as naked as a newborn baby.

_"Joanna!"_ Tooth shrieked as the horse swallowed the girl whole. Before she or Jack could catch it, the Nightmare rocketed downward with Jo in its stomach and disappeared into a new hole in the ground that closed up behind it. Jack hit the soil too little too late. He stared in horror at the spot the hole had just been with his staff sizzling.

His Companion was being sucked underground.

By a Nightmare.

Into the darkness.

With Pitch.

With a cry of raw frustration, Jack slammed his fists on the ground and screamed her name into the dirt.

_**"**__**JOANNA**__**!"**_

* * *

**Author's Review****:**  
OH MY GLOB, YOU GUYS! DRAMA BOMB!

I love cliffhangers! I feel like there should be more stuff I can do to the font to properly convey the emotional volume of Jack's scream, but I guess that's where you have to trust your readers and the awesomeness of their imaginations! LOL

Now some of you may think that me turning Joanna into a gun-toting BA-nanny came from watching The Avengers…and you'd be partially right! But her gun moves were actually the result of me watching Jodie Foster in _Silence of the Lambs_ and her cool self. The fact that it's a pistol is leftover fandom of the Rot and Ruin series by Jonathan Maberry—which, by the way, JUST RELEASED THE NEXT BOOK! After I get back from AWA, I am SO gonna check it out!

And I managed to weasel in another Twilight joke! For those of you who don't know, _La tua cantante_ is an Italian phrase that basically translates to "blood singer." The Volturi used it to describe the scent of Bella's blood and its effect on Edward. As you can well imagine, Joanna has the same effect on the Nightmares at the moment. It'll drag on into the next chapter as well, which promises to be pretty intense…as soon as I'm done writing it, of course. :S

Questions, comments, etc., you know what to do! GO WATCH THE VIDEO! Seriously, it's amazing!


End file.
